1. Auxospore production is almost always linked to meiosis and sexual reproduction.2. In diatoms, fertilization gives rise to a zygote termed auxospore . 3. Inside the auxospore , a large initial cell is produced. 4. The zygote is then becomes an auxospore , which has no rigid frustule. 5. The zygote sheds its silica theca and grows into a large sphere covered by an organic membrane, the auxospore . 6. A new diatom cell of maximum size, the initial cell, forms within the auxospore thus beginning a new generation. 7. When a minimum average size is reached auxospore formation occurs and sexual reproduction restores the population's average cell size. 8. Once such cells reach a certain minimum size, rather than simply divide, they reverse this decline by forming an auxospore . 9. These fuse to produce a zygote which expands in size to develop into an auxospore from which full-sized vegetative cells are produced. 10. In terms of cell cycle, binucleate ) zygote that develops into an auxospore ( from which full-sized vegetative cells are produced ).
