1. Diagrammatic representation of individual cnidarian host gastrodermal cells with resident symbionts.
Diagrammatic representation of individual cnidarian host gastrodermal cells with resident symbionts. Each symbiont is surrounded by a symbiosome membrane complex, depicted as a single black line. Note the dramatically different host cell sizes, with the hydroids green Hydra and Myrionema sp. having very large cells compared to the typical anthozoan cell. The larger hydroid cells harbor more symbionts per cell than the anthozoan. Chlorella cells are elliptoid in shape. Symbiodinium cells are spherical in shape and approximately 10 μm in diameter. Reports of Chlorella cell size vary, and so they are depicted here as approximately 5 to 8 μm in diameter, which is within the range described in many studies.
Simon K. Davy et al. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 2012; doi: /MMBR