{{Short description|Genus of algae}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Tetrachlorella ornata 311705961.jpg | image_caption = ''Tetrachlorella ornata'' | taxon = Tetrachlorella | authority = Korshikov | type_species = ''Tetrachlorella alternans'' | type_species_authority = (G.M.Smith) Korshikov<ref name=AlgaeBase/> | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * ''Tetrachlorella alternans'' * ''Tetrachlorella coronata'' * ''Tetrachlorella elliptica'' * ''Tetrachlorella incerta'' * ''Tetrachlorella ornata'' }}
'''''Tetrachlorella''''' is a genus of green algae in the family Oocystaceae.<ref>See the NCBI [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=120750 webpage on Tetrachlorella]. 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> It is present in freshwater habitats such as lakes, rivers, and reservoirs, as a component of the phytoplankton.<ref name=AlgaeBase>{{AlgaeBase genus|id=44280|name=Tetrachlorella|access-date=2025-02-08}}</ref>
''Tetrachlorella'' consists of colonies (termed coenobia up to 32 μm wide, usually embedded in a thin mucilaginous envelope. The coenobia are usually four-celled (occasionally two-celled), with the four cells arranged in one plane. Cells are oval, 4.5–20 μm long and 2–10 μm wide. The inner pair of cells are parallel and adjacent but only partially touching; the outer pair of cells are also parallel and attached to the inner pair of cells. The cell walls are smooth or covered with granules near the ends of the cells. Cells are uninuclate (with one nucleus) and contain one (or two<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 | pages=508 | isbn= 857656064X }}</ref>) parietal chloroplast with a single pyrenoid.<ref name=AlgaeBase/>
Reproduction occurs exclusively asexually, via the formation of two or four autospores (per sporangium) arranged into coenobia. The coenobia are released through a tear in the parental cell walls.<ref name=AlgaeBase/>
Species are distinguished on the details of cell and colony morphology, namely the typical number of cells per coenobium and the cell wall ornamentation (or lack thereof).<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hindák|first1=F.|date=1980|title=The genera ''Tetrachlorella'' and ''Fotterella'' (Chlorococcales, Chlorophyceae)|journal=Preslia|volume=52|issue=1|pages=1–12|url=https://www.preslia.cz/article/11105}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|1}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q7706234}}
Category:Trebouxiophyceae genera Category:Freshwater algae Category:Oocystaceae
{{green algae-stub}}