HIERARCHICAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE PHYLUM PRASINOPHYTA
| EUKARYA> ARCHAEPLASTIDA> VIRIDIPLANTAE> CHLOROBIONTA> PRASINOPHYTA |
PRASINOPHYTA LINKS
| This system is generally based on van den Hoek et al. (1995), but informed by the work of Melkonian (i.e. Melkonian 1989, 1990; Melkonian and Surek 1995; and Sym and Pienaar 1993). |
CLASS PRASINOPSIDA
The single class has the characters of the phylum. It is divided into 5 orders. based on ultrastructure and characteristics of cell division (after van den Hoek et al. 1995).
- ORDER MAMIELLALES.
- Tiny unicells; 1-2 laterally-inserted flagella; 2 microtubular roots; one layer of scales over the cell in a pattern that resembles a spider’s web.
- Mamiella, Bathycoccus, Micromonas.
- ORDER PSEUDOSCOURFELDIALES
- Cells with 2 laterally-inserted unequal flagella with three flagellar roots; 2-3 layers of different body scales.
- Nephroselmis.
- ORDER PYRAMIMONADALES
- Cell with a pit where 4-8 flagella are inserted; three layers of body scales; often with a lipid body.
- Pyramimonas, Halosphaera, Pachysphaera, Pterosperma, Mesostigma, Dunaliella, Polyblepharides.
- ORDER CHLORODENDRALES
- Cells compressed; 4 flagella from an apical pit; body scales fused to form a theca.
- Pedinomonas.
- ORDER PRASINOCLADALES
- Main form is a small multicellular benthic alga; reproduction by quadriflagellate zoospores.
- Prasinocladus, Tetraselmis.
| LITERATURE CITED Christiansen, T. 1962. Botanik. Vol 2. Systematic Botanik. No. 2. Alger. Munksgaard. Copenhagen. 178pp. Marin, B. and M. Melkonian. 1999. Mesostigmatophyceae, a new class of streptophyte green algae revealed by SSU rRNA sequence comparisons. Protist. 150: 399-417. Melkonian, M. 1989. D. Taxonomy I. Systematics and Evolution of the Algae. Progress in Botany. 50: 214-245. Melkonian, M. 1990a. Chlorophyta, Introduction. In: Margulis, L., J. O. Corliss, M. Melkonian, and D. J. Chapman, eds. 1990. Handbook of the Protoctista; the structure, cultivation, habits and life histories of the eukaryotic microorganisms and their descendants exclusive of animals, plants and fungi. Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Boston. pp. 597-599. Melkonian, M. 1990b. Chlorophyceae. In: Margulis, L., J. O. Corliss, M. Melkonian, and D. J. Chapman, eds. 1990. Handbook of the Protoctista; the Structure, Cultivation, Habits and Life Histories of the Eukaryotic Microorganisms and Their Descendants Exclusive of Animals, Plants and Fungi. Jones and Bartlett publishers. Boston. pp. 608-616. Melkonian, M. and B. Surek. 1995. Phylogeny of the Chlorophyta: congruence between ultrastructural and molecular evidence. Bull. Soc. Zool. Fr. 120: 191-208. Not, F., M. Latasa, D. Marie, T. Cariou, D. Vaulot, and N. Simon. 2004. A single species, Micromonas pusilla (Prasinophyceae), dominates the eukaryotic picplankton in the Western English Channel. Applied Environmental Microbiology. 70(7): 4064-4072. Pröschold, T. and F. Leliaert. 2007. Systematics of the green algae: conflict of classic and modern approaches. In: Brodie, J. and J. Lewis, eds. Unraveling the Algae: The Past, Present, and Future of Algal Systematics. The Systematics Association Special Volume Series. 75: 123-153. Suda, S., M. M. Watanabe, and I. Inouye. 1989. Evidence for sexual reproduction in the primitive green alga Nephroselmis olivacea (Praesinophyceae). Journal of Phycology. 25: 596-600. Sym, S. D. and R. N. Pienaar. 1993. The Class Praesinophyceae. In: F. E. Round and D. J. Chapman, eds. Progress in Phycological Research. 9: 281-376. Turmel, M., M.-C. Gagnon, C. J. O’Kelley, C. Otis, and C. Lemieux. 2009. The chloroplast genomes of the green algae Pyramimonas, Monomastix, and Pycnococcus shed new light on the evolutionary history of prasinophytes and the origin of the secondary chloroplasts of euglenids. Molecular Biology Evolution. 26(3): 631-648. Van den Hoek, C., D. G. Mann, and H. M. Jahns. 1995. Algae, An Introduction to Phycology. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. |
| By Jack R. Holt. Last revised: 03/19/2013 |
