Are there any temperature related changes in morphological integration of Micrasterias cells?

Micrasterias rotata is a phylogenetically and morphologically well defined species that is widely distributed in Central Europe in a broad temperature gradient. For its complex cell shape Micrasterias rotata is a suitable model organism for cell morphogenesis research. This thesis investigated whether there could be a different pattern in morphological integration resulting from the temperature stress in Micrasterias rotata cells cultivated on a temperature gradient. The optimum and a limits of growth on the temperature gradient were related to the sampling locations of the studied strains isolated from a lowland wetland and an high alpine lake. Differences in the growth rates among the strains suggested a local adaptation to the climatic conditions of the original locations but relatively high values of the assumed optimum growth temperature suggested an intra- species evolutionary adaptation. The temperature-related size reduction rule was not confirmed; however, a similar pattern of variation in shape occurred in both strains. The morphological integration analysis has basically confirmed that the Micrasterias cell is composed of a number of morphological modules related to its differentiation into the lobes and sublobes. Integration between the lobes of the opposite semicell was primarily..