Helicosporidium

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Helicosporidium
Helicosporidium LM.png
Helicosporidium under a light microscope
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
(unranked): Viridiplantae
Division: Chlorophyta
Class: Trebouxiophyceae
Order: Chlorellales
Family: Chlorellaceae
Genus: Helicosporidium
Keilin, 1921 [1]
Species

Helicosporidium is a genus of colorless, pathogenic algae in the class Trebouxiophyceae of the green algae. [2] [3] It is a parasite found in the gut of insects, and a close relative of Prototheca . [4]

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References

  1. Keilin, D. (1921). On the life history of Helicosporidium parasiticum n. g. sp., a new species of protist parasite in the larvae of Dashelaea obscura Winn (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) and in some other arthropods. Parasitology 13: 97-113.
  2. Tartar, A., Boucias, D. G., Becnel, J. J., and Adams, B. J. (2003) Comparison of plastid 16S rRNA (rrn 16) genes from Helicosporidium spp.: evidence supporting the reclassification of Helicosporidia as green algae (Chlorophyta). Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 53, 1719–1723.
  3. See the NCBI webpage on Helicosporidium. Data extracted from the "NCBI taxonomy resources". National Center for Biotechnology Information . Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  4. The Evolution of Parasitism - A Phylogenetic Perspective (2003), p. 46