{{Short description|Genus of algae}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Neochloris_aquatica_1f.png | image_caption = ''Neochloris aquatica'' | taxon = Neochloris | authority = R.C.Starr, 1955 | type_species = ''Neochloris aquatica'' | type_species_authority = R.C.Starr | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision_ref = <ref name="Algaebase">{{cite web | url = http://www.algaebase.org/browse/taxonomy/#id=6996 | publisher = AlgaeBase version 4.2 World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway | access-date = 2023-09-21 | title = Genus: ''Neochloris'' taxonomy browser |author1=Guiry, M.D. |author2=Guiry, G.M. |name-list-style=amp | year = 2007 }}</ref> | subdivision = * ''N. aquatica'' * ''N. conjuncta'' * ''N. dissecta'' * ''N. gelatinosa'' * ''N. pseudostigmata'' * ''N. pseudostigmatica'' * ''N. pyrenoidosa'' * ''N. vigensis'' * ''N. wimmeri'' }}
'''''Neochloris''''' is a genus of green algae in the family Neochloridaceae.<ref name="Algaebase"/> It is found in freshwater aquatic and terrestrial soil habitats.<ref name=Bicudo_and_Menezes2006/>
==Description== ''Neochloris'' consists of spherical cells that are solitary or sometimes found in small clusters. The cell wall is thin and smooth. Cells are multinucleate (with multiple nuclei).<ref name=Deason/> Each cell has a single parietal chloroplast with one to several pyrenoids.<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>
''Neochloris'' reproduces asexually. Reproduction occurs via aplanospores or zoospores. Zoospores bear two flagella; upon spore germination, the zoospore loses its flagella and becomes spherical.<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>
==Taxonomy== ''Neochloris'' was first described by Richard C. Starr in 1955 with a single species ''Neochloris aquatica'', with more species being added by later authors. However, the genus in this circumscription was polyphyletic.<ref name=Deason>{{cite journal | doi=10.1007/BF00937958 | title=Taxonomic status of the species of the green algal genus ''Neochloris'' | date=1991 | last1=Deason | first1=T. R. | last2=Silva | first2=P. C. | last3=Watanabe | first3=S. | last4=Floyd | first4=G. L. | journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution | volume=177 | issue=3–4 | pages=213–219 | s2cid=33372487 }}</ref> Species once placed in ''Neochloris'' have now been placed in two segregate genera, ''Ettlia'' and ''Parietochloris''.<ref name=Deason/>
''Ettlia'' and ''Parietochloris'' differ from ''Neochloris'' in being uninucleate while ''Neochloris'' ''sensu stricto'' contains multinucleate cells.<ref name=Deason/> Additional features of the flagellar apparatus are visible in ultrastructure as well. The basal bodies of the zoospore flagella in ''Neochloris'' are arranged directly opposite to each other,<ref name=Deason/> those of ''Ettlia'' are arranged in a clockwise orientation, and those of ''Parietochloris'' are arranged in a counterclockwise orientation.<ref name=Deason/>
==Ecology== The species ''Neochloris aquatica'' may have potential as a biological control agent against mosquitoes, specifically ''Culex quinquefasciatus''.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1371/journal.pntd.0009988 | doi-access=free | title=Culex quinquefasciatus larvae development arrested when fed on Neochloris aquatica | date=2021 | last1=Gil | first1=M. Florencia | last2=Fassolari | first2=Marisol | last3=Battaglia | first3=Marina E. | last4=Berón | first4=Corina M. | journal=PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases | volume=15 | issue=12 | article-number=e0009988 | pmid=34860833 | pmc=8641890 }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|1}}
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Category:Sphaeropleales genera Category:Sphaeropleales