The cytoskeletal microtubular system of some naked dinoflagellates

The cytoskeletal microtubule system has been studied in six species of unarmoured Dinoflagellates using immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. Several structures have been detected and described: (1) a subpellicular layer of microtubules, constituting the microtubular cytoskeleton, running singly or in bundles from the anterior part of the cell to the posterior; (2) a feeding apparatus, containing a ribbon of microtubules, which corresponds to a small peduncle in some species and is simply represented by a cytostome in some other species; and (3) the longitudinal flagellum that runs in a long intracytoplasmic pocket before becoming free at the extremity of the sulcus. A thorough study of the organization of the microtubular structures in a wide spectrum of Dinoflagellates is a prerequisite for understanding the evolutionary history of the group.