Polulichloris henanensis gen. et sp. nov. (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta), a novel subaerial coccoid green alga

• DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.218.2.3
• Publication Date: 2015-07-02T01:28:10Z
• Authors: Huiyin Song; Qi Zhang; Guoxiang Liu; Zhengyu Hu
• Keywords: Pyrenoid; Green algae

Coccoid green algae are abundant in subaerial habitats, but they largely unexplored because of their morphological uniformity. Several new genus-level lineages have recently been described on the basis molecular data. In this study, a coccoid alga was isolated from surface soil Zhoukou, Henan Province, China, and cultured cells were using light electron microscopy. The ellipsoidal cell had smooth wall parietal chloroplast with pyrenoid surrounded by starch envelope. Reproduction occurred formation 2‒16 autospores. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based nuclear 18S rDNA gene ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL) indicated that represents lineage Watanabea clade (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta). Here, we describe organism as genus species, Polulichloris henanensis, gen. et sp. nov.