Effect of temperature changes on morphological change of the marine diatom, ditylum brightwellii (West) grunow (Bacillariophyceae)

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to assess morphological changes inresponse to temperature in the marine diatom, Ditylum brightwellii (West)Grunow, using ecological and physiological approaches. D. brightwellii has twodistinct cell morphologies: prism and cylinder types. In the coastal waters ofSouth Korea, the prism type was found to be present at high frequency at lowtemperatures, whereas the cylinder type was predominant at high temperatures.Other environmental factors did not affect the presence of either cell typesignificantly. In growth experiments to determine the effect of temperature on thesize of D. brightwellii, the abundance of the prism type increased at lowtemperature, but the abundance of the cylinder type increased at hightemperature. These results are important for understanding temperature-inducedmorphological changes in D. brightwellii, and their potential role as an adaptivestrategy.