Fine structure of vegetative cells, development and morphology of
sporangia and general morphology of zoospores were studied for the
first time in the genus Endophyton Gardner. Vegetative cells contained
one parietal perforate chloroplast with 2–4 ulvophycean pyrenoids
and transverse cell walls without plasmodesmata. Sporangial walls were formed
by two distinct electron-dense and fuzzy layers which
contained a contiguous electron-translucent, fibrillar material. Zoospores
were naked, with an anterior dense aggregation of vesicles and a
cup-shaped chloroplast with one eyespot. The flagellar apparatus showed 180°
rotational symmetry and counterclockwise absolute
orientation of its components. Microtubular roots had a cruciate pattern, in
which d=2 and s=4 with 3/1 arrangement. Electron-dense
bilobed terminal caps covered the proximal end of each basal body. These
observations support the suggested close relationship of
Endophyton to the allied genus Entocladia and other ulvalean
algae, and reinforce the criteria for including the genus in the class
Ulvophyceae, order Ulvales, family Ulvellaceae.