Polarization and early development of zygotes in the brown alga Dictyota dichotoma (Phaeophyceae)

For more than a century the oogamous fucoid brown algae serve as practical models for the research on embryogenesis in plants. Morphological observations in Dictyota dichotoma suggest that mere extrapolations of all findings to other oogamous brown algae is inappropriate. To obtain better insights in the validity of extrapolations from these research models, embryogenesis in Dictyota dichotoma will be investigated.