| Prasiolales | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Prasiola stipitata | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Division: | Chlorophyta |
| Class: | Trebouxiophyceae |
| Order: | Prasiolales F.E.Fritsch |
| Families [1] | |
Prasiolales is an order of green algae in the class Trebouxiophyceae. [2] Members of this order are ecologically widespread and are found in freshwater, marine, and terrestrial habitats from the Arctic to the Antarctic. [3]
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Morphological features include a single stellate, axial chloroplast with a central pyrenoid. [4] The ultrastructure of Prasiolales is unique and includes cells with four flagella, with their basal flagellar apparatuses in a counterclockwise orientation. [4] [5] For a long time, its placement was uncertain and debated between Ulvophyceae and Trebouxiophyceae (also known as Pleurastrophyceae). Molecular data, however, have robustly supported its placement in the latter class. [3]
Traditionally the order contained a single family, Prasiolaceae. Molecular phylogenetics studies have found that coccoid algae of very simple morphology, such as Stichococcus , also belong to this order. [6]
Genera of uncertain placement to family include: [1]
