Raphidonema | |
---|---|
Raphidonema nivale | |
Scientific classification | |
(unranked): | Viridiplantae |
Division: | Chlorophyta |
Class: | Trebouxiophyceae |
Order: | Prasiolales |
Family: | Koliellaceae |
Genus: | Raphidonema Lagerheim, 1892 |
Species | |
Raphidonema brevirostre |
Raphidonema is a genus of filamentous green alga comprising five species. [1] It is a member of the Trebouxiophyceae. [2] [3]
The Chlorophyceae are one of the classes of green algae, distinguished mainly on the basis of ultrastructural morphology. They are usually green due to the dominance of pigments chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b. The chloroplast may be discoid, plate-like, reticulate, cup-shaped, spiral- or ribbon-shaped in different species. Most of the members have one or more storage bodies called pyrenoids located in the chloroplast. Pyrenoids contain protein besides starch. Some green algae may store food in the form of oil droplets. They usually have a cell wall made up of an inner layer of cellulose and outer layer of pectose.
Chlorophyta is a taxon of green algae informally called chlorophytes. The name is used in two very different senses, so care is needed to determine the use by a particular author. In older classification systems, it is a highly paraphyletic group of all the green algae within the green plants (Viridiplantae) and thus includes about 7,000 species of mostly aquatic photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. In newer classifications, it is the sister clade of the streptophytes/charophytes. The clade Streptophyta consists of the Charophyta in which the Embryophyta emerged. In this latter sense the Chlorophyta includes only about 4,300 species. About 90% of all known species live in freshwater. Like the land plants, green algae contain chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b and store food as starch in their plastids.
The green algae are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as sister of the Zygnematophyceae. Since the realization that the Embryophytes emerged within the green algae, some authors are starting to include them. The completed clade that includes both green algae and embryophytes is monophyletic and is referred to as the clade Viridiplantae and as the kingdom Plantae. The green algae include unicellular and colonial flagellates, most with two flagella per cell, as well as various colonial, coccoid and filamentous forms, and macroscopic, multicellular seaweeds. There are about 22,000 species of green algae. Many species live most of their lives as single cells, while other species form coenobia (colonies), long filaments, or highly differentiated macroscopic seaweeds.
Sphaeropleales is an order of green algae that used to be called Chlorococcales. The order includes some of the most common freshwater planktonic algae such as Scenedesmus and Pediastrum. The Spaeropleales includes vegetatively non-motile unicellular or colonial taxa that have biflagellate zoospores with flagella that are directly opposed in direction : Sphaeroplea, Atractomorpha, Neochloris, Hydrodictyon, and Pediastrum. All of these taxa have basal body core connections.
The Trebouxiophyceae are a class of green algae, in the division Chlorophyta. Their circumscription within the green algae is not well established due to the need for more genetic studies at higher levels within the group.
Selenastraceae is a family of green algae in the order Sphaeropleales. Members of this family are common components of the phytoplankton in freshwater habitats worldwide. A few species have been found in brackish and marine habitats, such as in the Baltic Sea.
Botryococcus is a genus of green algae. The cells form an irregularly shaped aggregate. Thin filaments connect the cells. The cell body is ovoid, 6 to 10 μm long, and 3 to 6 μm wide. Fossils of the genus are known since Precambrian times, and form the single largest biological contributor to crude oil, and are a major component of oil shales.
Actinastrum is a genus of mostly freshwater single-celled Eukaryotes, first described by Gustaf Lagerheim in 1882.
Choricystis is a genus of green algae in the class Trebouxiophyceae, considered a characteristic picophytoplankton in freshwater ecosystems. Choricystis, especially the type species Choricystis minor, has been proposed as an effective source of fatty acids for biofuels. Choricystis algacultures have been shown to survive on wastewater. In particular, Choricystis has been proposed as a biological water treatment system for industrial waste produced by the processing of dairy goods.
Dictyochloris is a genus of green algae in the class Chlorophyceae. It is the sole genus of the family Dictyochloridaceae. It is commonly found in terrestrial and subaerial habitats.
Dictyochloropsis is a genus of unicellular green alga of the phylum Chlorophyta. This genus consists of free-living algae which have a reticulate (net-like) chloroplast that varies slightly in morphology between species, and that when mature always lacks a pyrenoid. Dictyochloropsis is asexual and reproduces using autospores.
Golenkinia is a genus of green algae first described in 1894 by Robert Chodat. The genus is named for the Russian phycologist Mikhail Iljitsch Golenkin. Golenkinia species live in fresh water and are found around the world.
Lagerheimia is a genus of green algae in the family Oocystaceae. It is commonly found in freshwater habitats all over the world, although some species are rare and have only been recorded from Europe or the United States.
Micractinium is a genus of green algae in the family Chlorellaceae. Species of the genus Micractinium are common in freshwater habitats. A few species are found as endosymbionts of protozoa, such as Micractinium conductrix and Micractinium tetrahymenae.
Picocystis is a monotypic genus of green algae, the sole species is Picocystis salinarum. It is placed within its own class, Picocystophyceae in the division Chlorophyta.
The Pleurastrophyceae were a formerly recognized class of green algae, in the division Chlorophyta. It was created by Mattox and Stewart in 1984, containing four genera. More recent classifications tend to split the group. On the one hand, Tetraselmis seems to be a sister to the so-called UTC clade, thus making it part of the (paraphyletic) Prasinophyceae. The other three genera were Pleurastrum, Trebouxia, and Pseudotrebouxia, and most of the species which had been in those genera have been placed in the Trebouxiophyceae. However, Pleurastrum insigne, which had been specified as the type of Pleurastrophyceae, turns out to be part of the Chlorophyceae.
The Klebsormidiaceae are a family containing five genera of charophyte green alga forming multicellular, non-branching filaments. The genus Chlorokybus was previously included as well, but this problematic and poorly known genus is now placed in a separate class Chlorokybophyceae.
Picochlorum oklahomense is a species of coccoid chlorophyte algae, the type species of its genus. It is broadly halotolerant, small, asexual and lacks chlorophyll b. The author of the name spelt the specific epithet "oklahomensis". AlgaeBase corrects this to the neuter form oklahomense, to agree with the genus name.
Myrmecia is a genus of green algae that is associated with lichens.
Lemmermannia /ˌlɛməɹˈmæniə/ is a genus of fresh water trebouxiophyceans. as of March 2022, the genus contains five described species. They form coenobia of 4 to 16 cells. Its type species is L. tetrapedia (Kirchner) Lemmermann, originally described in 1880 but put into the genus Lemmermannia in 1904.