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Ultrastructural observations of mitochondrial morphology through the life cycle of the brown alga, Mutiomo cylindricus (Cutleriaceae, Tilopteridales)

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Abstract

Mitochondrial morphology varies according to development and the physiological conditions of the cell. Here, we performed electron tomography using serial sections to analyze the number, individual volume, and morphological complexity of mitochondria in the cells across two generations in the life cycle of the brown alga Mutimo cylindricus. This species shows a heteromorphic alternation of generations between the macroscopic gametophyte and the crustose sporophyte during its life cycle and displays anisogamous sexual reproduction. We observed the mitochondria in the vegetative cells of gametophytes and sporophytes to mainly show tubular or discoidal shapes with high morphological complexity. The morphology of the mitochondria in the male and female gametes changed to a nearly spherical or oval shape from a tubular or discoidal shape before release. In this species, degradation of the paternal mitochondria was observed in the zygote 2 h after fertilization. Morphological changes in the mitochondria were not observed until 6 h after fertilization. Twenty-four-hour-old zygotes before and after cytokinesis showed a similar number of mitochondria as 6-h-old zygotes; however, the volume and morphological complexity increased. The results indicated that the maternal mitochondria did not undergo fission or fusion until this stage. Based on the analysis results of the number and total volume of mitochondria before and after the release of the gametes, it is possible that the mitochondria in the female gametes fuse immediately before release.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Toyoki Iwao (Toba Fisheries Science Center) for collecting the fresh Mie-strain of M. cylindricus, and to Dr. Toshiaki Ito (Electron Microscope Laboratory, Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University) for preparing the TEM samples of the gametophyte stage using high-pressure freezing.

Funding

This work was supported by the Sumitomo Foundation (grant number 190311).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Yuan Shen

  2. Muroran Marine Station, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Muroran, 051-0013, Japan

    Yuan Shen, Taizo Motomura & Chikako Nagasato

Authors
  1. Yuan Shen
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  2. Taizo Motomura
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  3. Chikako Nagasato
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Contributions

Yuan Shen analyzed the data and maintained the M. cylindricus strains. Chikako Nagasato and Taizo Motomura designed the experiments and critically reviewed the manuscript. All authors have written and edited the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chikako Nagasato.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Handling Editor: Handling Editor: Tsuneyoshi Kuroiwa

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Supplementary information

Fig. S1

Serial ultrathin sections used for 3D reconstruction a Ribbon of thin serial sections generated using a diamond knife. b Enlarged image of a with interference color as gold. (PNG 992 kb)

High Resolution (TIF 2866 kb)

Fig. S2

Three-dimensional models used for quantitative analysis of mitochondrial morphology across gametophyte-to-sporophyte life cycle of M. cylindricus. All mitochondria used for quantitative analysis originated from Table S1. a1–3 Male_Gametophyte_1–3. b1–3 Female_Gametophyte_1–3. c1–3 Male_Gametangium_1–3. d1–3 Female_Gametangium_1–3. e1–3 Male_Gamete_1–3. F1–3 Female_Gamete_1–3. g1–3 2-h-old_Zygote_1–3. h1–3 6-h-old_Zygote_1–3. i1–2 24-h-old_Zygote_1 to 2. k1–4: 2-celled_Sporophyte_1–2. l1–3 20-d-old_Sporophyte_1 to 3. The plasma membrane is indicated in gray. Nuclei are indicated in blue. Mitochondria are indicated in orange. Scale bar: 1 μm. (PNG 3233 kb)

High Resolution (TIF 8418 kb)

Fig. S3

Gametophyte-to-sporophyte life cycle of M. cylindricus a, b Male and female gametophytes. Arrowheads indicate released swimming gametes. c, d Male and female plurilocular gametangia. Black arrowheads indicate orange eyespots in gametangia small loci. White arrowheads indicate somatic cells of gametophytes. e, f Released swimming male and female gametes with one eyespot (arrowhead) in each cell. g Zygote with two orange eyespots (arrowheads). h Two-celled sporophytes with two orange eyespots (arrowheads). i Crustose sporophyte. af, anterior flagellum; pf, posterior flagellum. Scale bar: 1 cm in a, b; 10 μm in c–h. (PNG 4617 kb)

High Resolution (TIF 8319 kb)

Table S1

MPG, Male_Gametangium; FPG, Female_Gametangium; Mg, Male_Gamete; Fg, Female_Gamete; 2hZ, 2-h-old_Zygote; 6hZ, 6-h-old_Zygote; 24hZ, 24-h-old_Zygote; 24h2cS, 2-celled_Sporophyte; 20dS, 20-d-old_Sporophyte. Within the box plot, the solid line represents the 50th percentile, the dashed line represents the mean, the box delimits the 25th and 75th percentiles, and bars indicate the 10th and 90th percentiles. Within the line plot, data are mean ± SEM (DOCX 40 kb)

Movie S1

A 3D model of a male gametophyte (MOV 2559 kb)

Movie S2

A 3D model of a female gametophyte (MOV 3778 kb)

Movie S3

A 3D model of a male gametangium (MOV 2311 kb)

Movie S4

A 3D model of a female gametangium (MOV 3856 kb)

Movie S5

A 3D model of a male gamete (MOV 628 kb)

Movie S6

A 3D model of a female gamete (MOV 2662 kb)

Movie S7

A 3D model of a 2-h-old zygote (MOV 2586 kb)

Movie S8

A 3D model of a 6-h-old zygote (MOV 3305 kb)

Movie S9

A 3D model of a 24-h-old zygote (MOV 2595 kb)

Movie S10

A 3D model of a two-celled sporophyte (MOV 2842 kb)

Movie S11

A 3D model of the marginal apical region in a 20-d-old sporophyte (MOV 5054 kb)

Movie S12

A 3D model of the subapical region in a 20-d-old sporophyte (MOV 3460 kb)

Movie S13

A 3D model of the central region in a 20-d-old sporophyte (MOV 7639 kb)

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Shen, Y., Motomura, T. & Nagasato, C. Ultrastructural observations of mitochondrial morphology through the life cycle of the brown alga, Mutiomo cylindricus (Cutleriaceae, Tilopteridales). Protoplasma 259, 371–383 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-021-01679-1

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