Quote:
Originally Posted by karimwassef
Does anyone know if ostreopsis is photosynthetic on its own (without cyano farming)?
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Definitely or they would not been classified as mixotrophic and they would not care if they sit in or out of the light.
Molecular Analysis of Genotype Identification
The final alignment of Ostreopsis C5 strain sequence of 5.8-ITS rDNA with all Ostreopsis spp. sequences from GenBank gave 100% of identity with O. cf. ovata ribosomal sequence.
Light and Epifluorescence Microscopy
O. cf. ovata cells (Figs. 1A–1E) are anterio-posteriorly compressed and show a typical oval tear-shaped morphology pointed to the ventral side. They present many yellow brownish elongated chloroplasts, radiating from the centre of the cell (Fig. 1A). Chloroplasts, when observed by epifluorescence microscopy, show an intense red autofluorescence under blue (Fig. 1B) and also green excitation. This fact is likely to be related to the abundant presence of accessory photosynthetic pigments, such as carotenoids, in addition to chlorophylls. Few small yellow fluorescing rounded bodies are visible in the inner part of the cell under blue light excitation (Fig. 1B, arrow).
Source:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3584116/