Fig 1. The life cycle of a centric diatom.

The average cell size of a population of asexually dividing diatoms decreases as a result of differential thecae inheritance. At a critically small size, cells can initiate sexual reproduction and differentiate into male and female cells. Meiosis in the male spermatogonangium produces multinucleate spermatogonia that divide into individual haploid spermatocytes. Meiosis in the female oogonia produces a single functional haploid nucleus that is fertilized by a flagellated spermatocyte through an opening in the oogonia thecae. Fertilized oogonia expand into a large auxospore where new, large thecae are formed for the new initial cell.