Gilbertsmithia
| Gilbertsmithia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| (unranked): | Viridiplantae |
| Division: | Chlorophyta |
| Class: | Chlorophyceae |
| Order: | Sphaeropleales |
| Family: | Scenedesmaceae |
| Genus: | Gilbertsmithia M.O.P.Iyengar, 1975 |
| Species: | G. grandis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Gilbertsmithia grandis M.O.P.Iyengar, 1975[1]
| |
Gilbertsmithia is a genus of green algae in the family Scenedesmaceae, containing the single species Gilbertsmithia grandis.[1] It was named after the American botanist Gilbert Morgan Smith.[2] This remarkable alga has only been recorded once from a muddy rainwater pool in Madras (now Chennai), India.[1]
Gilbertsmithia grandis consists of flattened colonies of cells, termed coenobia. Colonies contain rings of four or eight cells in a ring, akin to beads on a rosary. Cells are uninucleate (with one nucleus) and contain one cup-shaped chloroplast, each with a single pyrenoid in the thicker part of the chloroplast. Colonies are surrounded by a thin layer of mucilage.[2]
Gilbertsmithia grandis reproduces asexually by the formation of autospores. Each cell divides into four or eight protoplasts, and a released via a slit in the mother cell wall. The mother cell wall is retained and becomes angular, and remain attached to each other; therefore, multiple rings may be present on a single colony.[2] Sexual reproduction is not known to occur in this genus.[1]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Guiry, M.D.; Guiry, G.M. "Gilbertsmithia". AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. Retrieved 2023-11-26.
- ^ a b c Iyengar, M.O.P. (1975). "Contributions to our knowledge of South Indian Algae—VIII". Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science. 81B (1): 29–60.
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