Stichococcus

{{Short description|Genus of algae}} {{Automatic taxobox | image=Ulothrixandrelatedgenera021 Stichococcus.jpg | image_upright=0.4 | taxon = Stichococcus | authority = Nägeli | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * ''S. bacillaris'' * ''S. ampulliformis'' * ''S. sp. NB2VFF10'' * ''S. chlorelloides'' * ''S. sp. BCP-SRS2-14'' * ''S. sp. MBIC10457'' * ''S. sp. MBIC10465'' * ''S. deasonii'' * ''S. jenerensis'' * ''S. thannithode'' | synonyms = }}

'''''Stichococcus''''' is a genus of green algae in the family Stichococcaceae.<ref name=AlgaeBase>{{AlgaeBase genus|name=Stichococcus|id=38330|access-date=2025-01-04}}</ref> It is a very common algal genus found in a variety of habitats, such as tree trunks, soil, snow, freshwater and marine habitats.<ref name=John2014/> One species, ''Stichococcus bacillaris'' is economically important as it produces fatty acids useful for biofuels.<ref name=Van/>

The name ''Stichococcus'' originates from the Ancient Greek στίχος (''stíkhos'', "row, line") and κόκκος (''kókkos'', "seed" or "berry").<ref>{{cite book|title=Kryptogamen-Flora von Sachsen, Ober-Lausitz, Thüringen und Nord-Böhmen, mit Berücksichtigung der benachbarten Länder: erste Abtheilung: Algen im weitesten Sinne, Leber und Laubmoose|last1=Rabenhorst|first1=L.|date=1853|publisher= Verlag von Eduard Kummer|location=Leipzig|pages= i-xx, 1-653}}</ref>

==Description== ''Stichococcus'' consists of solitary cells or uniseriate filaments of few cells (2 to 4) that readily break apart.<ref name=AlgaeBase/> The cells are cylindrical, about three times longer than wide, straight or sometimes curved, with rounded ends often containing vacuoles. Cells are uninucleate with one thin, parietal chloroplast with or without a pyrenoid. Pyrenoids if present are located in the middle of the chloroplast but usually difficult to see. Reproduction occurs by vegetative cell division, and by the fragmentation of filaments.<ref name=AlgaeBase/><ref name=John2014>{{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= John|first1=David M.| last2=Rindi |first2=Fabio |chapter= Chapter 8. Filamentous (Nonconjugating) and Plantlike Green Algae |url= |location= |publisher= Elsevier Inc. |page= |isbn=978-0-12-385876-4 }}</ref>

==Taxonomy== ''Stichococcus'' is placed within the order Prasiolales, equivalent to the ''Prasiola''-clade found in literature. The morphological form of ''Stichococcus'' is not monophyletic, and therefore in 2020 it was split into several genera: ''Protostichococcus'', ''Deuterostichococcus'', ''Tritostichococcus'', ''Tetratostichococcus'', and ''Pseudostichococcus''. The similar morphology of all of these genera and species makes identification using morphology difficult or even impossible.<ref name=Proeschold>{{cite journal|doi=10.11646/phytotaxa.441.2.2 |title=The green puzzle ''Stichococcus'' (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta): New generic and species concept among this widely distributed genus. |date=2020 |last1=Pröschold |first1=Thomas |last2=Darienko |first2=Tatyana |journal=Phytotaxa |volume=441 |issue=2 |pages=113–142 }}</ref> ''Stichococcus'' and its relatives produce sorbitol and sucrose as an osmolyte, when subjected to salt stress.<ref name=Van>{{cite journal|doi=10.4490/algae.2021.36.6.5 |title=A chemosystematic investigation of selected ''Stichococcus''-like organisms (Trebouxiophyta) |date=2021 |last1=Van |first1=Anh Tu |last2=Karsten |first2=Ulf |last3=Glaser |first3=Karin |journal=Algae |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=123–135 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|1}}

Category:Trebouxiophyceae genera Category:Prasiolales Category:Terrestrial algae Category:Freshwater algae Category:Lichen photobionts