Biology:Planctonema

From HandWiki

Planctonema is a genus of green algae in the class Trebouxiophyceae.[1] It is found in freshwater habitats as plankton,[2] and is found worldwide. It is dominant in lakes during the summer and autumn months.[3]

The classification of Planctonema has varied historically. It was originally described by Wilhelm Schmidle as a heterokont, and has also been placed in the family Ulotrichaceae. Molecular phylogenetic evidence has shown that Planctonema is closely related to members of the family Oocystaceae,[3] and AlgaeBase places Planctonema in Oocystaceae.[2] However, it lacks the cell wall ultrastructure characteristic of the family.[3]

Description

Planctonema consists of short, uniseriate filaments surrounded in a common mucilaginous sheath. Individual cells. Individual cells are spaced apart equidistantly, or end-to-end in separate pairs; the space between cells is filled with mucilage. Cells are cylindrical, with a parietal, plate-like chloroplast without pyrenoids or starch. The nucleus is located in the median constriction of the chloroplast. At the ends of the cell poles are vacuoles containing conspicuous oil globules.[2]

Vegetative reproduction occurs by the fragmentation of filaments. Sexual reproduction is unknown.[2]

Similar genera include Psephonema (formerly considered to be synonymous with Planctonema), and Planctonemopsis, described in 2017. Psephonema has shorter cells than Planctonema (with a length–width ratio of 1.5–2, while Planctonemopsis has chloroplasts with pyrenoids).[3]

References

  1. See the NCBI webpage on Planctonema. Data extracted from the "NCBI taxonomy resources". National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/pub/taxonomy/. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named AlgaeBase
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Liu, Xudong; Zhu, Huan; Liu, Benwen; Liu, Guoxiang; Hu, Zhengyu (2017). "Classification of Planctonema-like algae, including a new genus Planctonemopsis gen. nov., a new species Planctonema gelatinosum sp. nov. and a reinstated genus Psephonema (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta)". Journal of Phycology 53 (4): 869–879. doi:10.1111/jpy.12551. PMID 28542872. Bibcode2017JPcgy..53..869L. 

Wikidata ☰ Q7200993 entry