Auxospore

An auxospore is a reproductive cell that is produced by a diatom cell that has reached the minimum size for a species. This reproductive cell expands before producing a new frustule. The mean cell size of a population is restored through auxospore formation. Auxospores are usually associated with sexual reproduction.

Citations

Kaczmarska, I., Poulíčková, A., Sato, S., Edlund, M.B., Idei, M., Watanabe, T. and Mann, D.G. (2013) Proposals for a terminology for diatom sexual reproduction, auxospores and resting stages Diatom Research 28: 263-294

Publication Link: 10.1080/0269249X.2013.791344
Round, F.E., Crawford, R.M. and Mann, D.G. (1990) The Diatoms. Biology and Morphology of the Genera. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 747 pp.

auxospore-melosira-varians — Large, spherical cell is an auxospore of *Melosira varians*. Scale bar = 10 µm.