Zoochlorella
Zoochlorella is a nomen rejiciendum for a genus of green algae assigned to Chlorella.[1] The term Zoochlorella (plural zoochlorellae) is sometimes used to refer to any green algae that lives symbiotically within the body of a freshwater or marine invertebrate or protozoan. Zoochlorellae and zooxanthellae may both be found in the Pacific coast sea anemones Anthopleura elegantissima and Anthopleura xanthogrammica.
| Zoochlorella | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Phylum: | Chlorophyta |
| Class: | Trebouxiophyceae |
| Order: | Chlorellales |
| Family: | Chlorellaceae |
| Genus: | Zoochlorella K.Brandt, 1881, nom. rejic. |
The analogy between Zoochlorella and chloroplasts has been used by the botanist Konstantin Mereschkowski in 1905 to argue about the symbiotic origin of chloroplasts (then called 'chromatophores', a term used for completely different structures today).[2]
Zoochlorellae are responsible for the greenish colour of sea anemone tentacles.
Anthopleura xanthogrammica gains its green colour from Zoochlorella
Notes
- Compère, Pierre (November 1999). "Report of the Committee for Algae: 6". Taxon. 48 (1): 135–136. JSTOR 1224630.
- Martin W, and Kowallik, K V. 1999, Annotated English translation of Mereschkowsky's 1905 paper 'Über Nature und Ursprung der Chromatophoren im Pflanzenreich'. Eur. J. Phycol., 34: 287-295. Free access to the article Archived March 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
References
- Guiry, M.D.; Guiry, G.M. (2008). "Zoochlorella". AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
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