{{Short description|Genus of green algae}} {{about|a genus of green algae|the parasitic fungus|Microsporidia}} {{Automatic taxobox | taxon = Microspora | authority = Thuret, 1850 |image=Microsporaceae.jpg |image_alt=A, Microspora amœna (Kütz.) Lagerh. B and C, ? M. abbreviata (Rabenh.) Lagerh.; B, vegetative filament; C, filament with aplanospores (a). D, M. pachyderma (Wille) Lagerh. E, single vegetative cell of M. amœna var. crassior Hansg., showing the reticulated chloroplast. The indistinct blur in the centre of the cell indicates the position of the nucleus. F, fragment of filament of M. amœna with aplanospore (a). |image_caption=A, ''Microspora amœna'' (Kütz.) Lagerh. B and C, ? ''M. abbreviata'' (Rabenh.) Lagerh.; B, vegetative filament; C, filament with aplanospores (a). D, ''M. pachyderma'' (Wille) Lagerh. E, single vegetative cell of ''M. amœna var. crassior'' Hansg., showing the reticulated chloroplast. The indistinct blur in the centre of the cell indicates the position of the nucleus. F, fragment of filament of ''M. amœna'' with aplanospore (a). | type_species = Microspora floccosa | type_species_authority = (Vaucher) Thuret<ref name=AlgaeBase>{{AlgaeBase genus | id=37533 | title=''Microspora'' Thuret, 1850, nom. cons. | access-date=2025-04-26 }}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * ''Microspora stagnorum'' * ''Microspora sp. UTEX LB 472'' }}
'''''Microspora''''' is a genus of green algae in the family Microsporaceae.<ref>See the NCBI [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=163316 webpage on Microspora]. Data extracted from the {{cite web | url=https://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/pub/taxonomy/ | title=NCBI taxonomy resources | publisher=National Center for Biotechnology Information | access-date=2007-03-19}}</ref> ''Microspora'' was first named by Gustave Thuret in 1850. The name was used by Arthur Hill Hassall earlier in 1843, for another genus, but Thuret's genus has been conserved over Hassall's.<ref name=AlgaeBase/>
''Microspora'' is a freshwater alga, found in still or flowing water. It is most common in the colder months of the year. One species, ''Microspora ficulinae'', is an endosymbiont within marine sponges. It has a cosmopolitan distribution.<ref name=Bicudo_and_Menezes2006>{{cite book | title= Gêneros de Algas de Águas Continentais do Brasil: chave para identificação e descrições | edition=2 | year=2006 | first1=Carlos E. M. |last1=Bicudo | first2=Mariângela | last2= Menezes | publisher= RiMa Editora | page=508 | isbn= 85-7656-064-X }}</ref>
==Description== ''Microspora'' consists of uniseriate, unbranched filaments. Cells are cylindrical, quadrate or slightly swollen. The cell wall consists of two overlapping, "H-shaped" halves, often visible at the end of filaments where cells have broken off. The cell contains a single, parietal chloroplast which is perforated to form a fine or coarse net; the chloroplast has no pyrenoids.<ref name=Shubert2014>{{cite book |editor-first1=John D.|editor-last1=Wehr|editor-first2=Robert G.|editor-last2=Sheath|editor-first3=J. Patrick|editor-last3=Kociolek |date= 2014 |edition=2 |title= Freshwater Algae of North America: Ecology and Classification |last1= Shubert|first1=Elliot| last2=Gärtner |first2=Georg |chapter= Chapter 7. Nonmotile Coccoid and Colonial Green Algae |url= |location= |publisher= Elsevier Inc. |page= |isbn=978-0-12-385876-4 }}</ref>
Reproduction occurs asexually and sexually, via biflagellate zoospores or isogametes.<ref name=Shubert2014/> Aplanospores and akinetes have also been observed.<ref name=Shubert2014/>
Species of ''Microspora'' have traditionally been distinguished based on vegetative characters, such as the width of the filaments. However, these characters are known to be unreliable.<ref name=Shubert2014/>
==Taxonomy== In phylogenetic analyses, ''Microspora'' forms a clade with ''Flintia'' (formerly ''Paralella''), but the exact placement within Chlorophyceae is somewhat equivocal. No type material exists for ''Microspora''.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.7717/peerj.6899|doi-access=free |title=Order, please! Uncertainty in the ordinal-level classification of Chlorophyceae |date=2019 |last1=Fučíková |first1=Karolina |last2=Lewis |first2=Paul O. |last3=Neupane |first3=Suman |last4=Karol |first4=Kenneth G. |last5=Lewis |first5=Louise A. |journal=PeerJ |volume=7 |article-number=e6899 |pmid=31143537 |pmc=6525593 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|1}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q291968}}
Category:Sphaeropleales genera Category:Sphaeropleales
{{Chlorophyceae-stub}}