Elliptochloris

{{Short description|Genus of algae}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Patova_et_al_2023_5d_Elliptochloris_bilobata.png | image_caption = ''Elliptochloris bilobata'' | taxon = Elliptochloris | authority = Tscherm.-Woess<ref name=AB_g45462/> | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *''Elliptochloris antarctica'' (Tschermak-Woess & Friedmann) Darienko & Pröschold *''Elliptochloris bilobata'' Tschermak-Woess *''Elliptochloris incisiformis'' L.Hoffmann & I.Kostikov *''Elliptochloris marina'' Letsch *''Elliptochloris perforata'' Hoffmann & Kostikov *''Elliptochloris philistinensis'' Novis & Visnovsky *''Elliptochloris reniformis'' Darienko & Pröschold *''Elliptochloris subsphaerica'' (Reisigl) Ettl & G.Gärtner | subdivision_ref = <ref name=AB_g45462/> }}

'''''Elliptochloris''''' is a genus of green algae in the order Prasiolales.<ref name=AB_g45462>{{AlgaeBase genus|name=Elliptochloris|id=45462|access-date=2022-02-28}}</ref> Species of this genus are common and found in a variety of terrestrial habitats such as soils.<ref name=DariGustPros16/> Some species in the genus are {{lichengloss|photobiont}} partners in lichens.<ref name="Sanders & Masumoto 2021"/> One species, ''E. marina'', is a symbiont within two species of sea anemone, ''Anthopleura elegantissima'' and ''A. xanthogrammica''.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1529-8817.2009.00727.x |title=''Elliptochloris marina'' sp. nov. (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta), symbiotic green alga of the temperate pacific sea anemones ''Anthopleura xanthogrammica'' and ''A. elegantissima'' (Anthozoa, Cnidaria) |date=2009 |last1=Letsch |first1=Molly R. |last2=Muller-Parker |first2=Gisèle |last3=Friedl |first3=Thomas |last4=Lewis |first4=Louise A. |journal=Journal of Phycology |volume=45 |issue=5 |pages=1127–1135 |pmid=27032358 }}</ref> It seems to have a worldwide distribution.<ref name=Gustavs>{{cite book|doi=10.1142/9781786340580_0006 |chapter=Symbioses of the Green Algal Genera ''Coccomyxa'' and ''Elliptochloris'' (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta) |title=Algal and Cyanobacteria Symbioses |date=2017 |last1=Gustavs |first1=Lydia |last2=Schiefelbein |first2=Ulf |last3=Darienko |first3=Tatyana |last4=Pröschold |first4=Thomas |pages=169–208 |isbn=978-1-78634-057-3 }}</ref>

==Description== ''Elliptochloris'' consists of solitary cells which are spherical to ellipsoidal, or cylindrical or slightly curved. Cells contain a single parietal chloroplast which may be band-shaped, trough-shaped, hollow and spherical; the chloroplasts may be lobed or not, and with or without a pyrenoid. Cells contain a single nucleus.<ref name=Ettl_Gaertner/>

Reproduction occurs by the formation of autospores, which come in two different morphologies: S-type, which are larger, ellipsoidal and formed in groups of 2–4 per sporangium, and E-type, which are smaller, rod-shaped, and formed in groups of 16-32 per sporangium. The formation of two different autospore morphologies is characteristic for ''Elliptochloris''.<ref name=Ettl_Gaertner/> However, some strains (for example SAG 2200) only produce one type of autospores,<ref name=DariGustPros16/> and when found as photobionts in lichens, the algae tend to only produce S-type autospores.<ref name=Gustavs/>

==Phylogenetics== ''Elliptochloris'' forms a monophyletic clade that is sister to ''Coccomyxa''.<ref name=DariGustPros16>{{Cite journal |last1=Darienko |first1=T. |last2=Gustavs |first2=L. |last3=Pröschold |first3=T. |date=2016 |title=Species concept and nomenclatural changes within the genera ''Elliptochloris'' and ''Pseudochlorella'' (Trebouxiophyceae) based on an integrative approach |journal=Journal of Phycology |volume=52 |issue=6 |pages=1125–1145 |name-list-style=amp | doi=10.1111/jpy.12481 |pmid=27734501 }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|refs=

<ref name=Ettl_Gaertner>{{cite book|last1=Ettl|first1=Hanuš|last2=Gärtner|first2=Georg|title=Syllabus der Boden-, Luft- und Flechtenalgen|edition=2nd|date=2013|publisher=Springer-Verlag|isbn=9783642394614|language=de}}</ref>

<ref name="Sanders & Masumoto 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Sanders |first1=William B. |last2=Masumoto |first2=Hiroshi |title=Lichen algae: the photosynthetic partners in lichen symbioses |journal=The Lichenologist |volume=53 |issue=5 |year=2021 |doi=10.1017/S0024282921000335 |pages=347–393 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

}}

Category:Trebouxiophyceae genera Category:Enigmatic algae taxa Category:Taxa named by Elisabeth Tschermak-Woess Category:Taxa described in 1980 Category:Terrestrial algae