# Botryococcus
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{{Short description|Genus of algae}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [Precambrian](/source/Precambrian) - Recent >{{fossilrange|542|0}}
| image = Botryococcus braunii.jpg
| image_caption = ''[Botryococcus braunii](/source/Botryococcus_braunii)''
| taxon = Botryococcus
| authority = Kützing, 1849
| type_species = ''Botryococcus braunii''
| type_species_authority = Kützing
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision_ref = [{{AlgaeBase genus | id=43502 | accessdate = 12 September 2023 | title = ''Botryococcus'' }}]
| subdivision = See text
}}
'''''Botryococcus''''' is a genus of [green algae](/source/green_algae). It is a microscopic or semi-microscopic alga that is found in freshwater habitats worldwide. It consists of colonies of cells in an irregular, gelatinous matrix.[
''Botryococcus'' produces high amounts of oil, which often make the colonies colored yellowish to reddish. When seen with a [microscope](/source/microscope), colonies release oil under the pressure of a [cover slip](/source/cover_slip).][{{cite book|editor1=D. M. John |editor2=Brian A. Whitton |editor3=Alan J. Brook |title=The freshwater algal flora of the British Isles: an identification guide to freshwater and terrestrial algae|year=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-77051-4}}] Because of its high amounts of oil, ''Botryococcus'' is of interest to the field of [biotechnology](/source/biotechnology), as it is a promising source of [biofuel](/source/biofuel).[{{cite journal |author1=Metzger, P. |author2=Largeau, C. |title= ''Botryococcus braunii'': a rich source for hydrocarbons and related ether lipids |journal= Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology |volume= 66|issue= 25|pages=486–96 |doi= 10.1007/s00253-004-1779-z|year= 2005 |pmid= 15630516|s2cid=26975859 }}]
In addition to its current biosynthetic capabilities, fossils of the genus are known since [Precambrian](/source/Precambrian) times, and form the single largest biological contributor to [crude oil](/source/crude_oil), and are a major component of [oil shale](/source/oil_shale)s.[{{Cite journal|last1=Tennant|first1=Richard K.|last2=Lux|first2=Thomas M.|last3=Sambles|first3=Christine M.|last4=Kuhn|first4=Nikolaus J.|last5=Petticrew|first5=Ellen L.|last6=Oldfield|first6=Richard|last7=Parker|first7=David A.|last8=Hatton|first8=Jackie|last9=Moore|first9=Karen A.|last10=Lee|first10=Rob|last11=Turney|first11=Chris S. M.|date=2019-02-11|title=Palaeogenomics of the Hydrocarbon Producing Microalga Botryococcus braunii|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=9|issue=1|pages=1776|doi=10.1038/s41598-018-38236-5|pmid=30742038 |pmc=6370823 |bibcode=2019NatSR...9.1776T |issn=2045-2322|doi-access=free}}]
==Taxonomy==
The genus and its holotype were described in 1849 by [Friedrich Traugott Kützing](/source/Friedrich_Traugott_K%C3%BCtzing).[{{cite book | title = Species Algarum | last = Kützing | first = Friedrich Traugott | year = 1849 | publisher = Brockhaus | page = 892}}]
==Description==
''Botryococcus'' consists of irregularly shaped colonies of cells; in some species or when old, the colonies may
be composed of subcolonies connected by gelatinous strands. Cells are 6-20 μm long and 2.5-8 μ wide, elongate, obovoid and narrower near the center of the colonies, ovoid, or spherical, and arranged around the periphery of the colony in one layer. They are partially or wholly submerged in a gelatinous matrix, or may be attached to the gelatinous matrix at the base. The matrix is often impregnated with oil that gives the colony a yellowish, brownish or reddish color. Cells are uninucleate (with one [nucleus](/source/cell_nucleus)) and contain a single parietal, cup-shaped [chloroplast](/source/chloroplast) with one [pyrenoid](/source/pyrenoid) (but the pyrenoid may not be visible due to oil droplets crowding the protoplast).[{{cite journal | title = Contribution to the taxonomic study of the family Botryococcaceae (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta) in southern Spain | last1 = Fanés Treviño | first1 = Ingrid | last2 = Sánchez Castillo | first2 = Pedro | last3 = Comas González | first3 = Augusto | journal = Cryptogamie, Algologie | volume = 30 | date = 2009 | pages = 17–30 | url = https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/cryptogamie-algologie2009v30f1a2.pdf | accessdate = 12 September 2023}}]
==Species==
There are 13 accepted species in the genus.[{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/S0003-9365(11)80049-7 |title=Morphological Differences in Natural Populations of the Genus ''Botryococcus'' (Chlorophyceae) |date=1992 |last1=Komárek |first1=Jiří |last2=Marvan |first2=Petr |journal=Archiv für Protistenkunde |volume=141 |issue=1–2 |pages=65–100 }}] However, the morphological characters may overlap and it is sometimes not possible to assign a population to a species.