# Volvulina

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{{Short description|Genus of algae}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Volvulina steinii.jpg
| image_caption = ''Volvulina steinii''
| taxon = Volvulina
| authority = Playfair
| type_species = Volvulina steinii
| type_species_authority = Playfair<ref name=AlgaeBase>{{AlgaeBase genus | id=43498 | title=''Volvulina'' Playfair, 1915 | access-date=2025-04-04 }}</ref>
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision_ref = <ref name=AlgaeBase/>
| subdivision = 
* ''[Volvulina compacta](/source/Volvulina_compacta)''
* ''[Volvulina pringsheimii](/source/Volvulina_pringsheimii)''
* ''[Volvulina steinii](/source/Volvulina_steinii)''
}}

'''''Volvulina''''' is a [genus](/source/genus) of colonial [green algae](/source/green_algae) in the family [Volvocaceae](/source/Volvocaceae).<ref>See the [NCBI](/source/National_Center_for_Biotechnology_Information) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?mode=Info&id=47792 webpage on Volvulina]. Data extracted from the {{cite web | url=https://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/pub/taxonomy/ | title=NCBI taxonomy resources | publisher=[National Center for Biotechnology Information](/source/National_Center_for_Biotechnology_Information) | access-date=2007-03-19}}</ref> It is [cosmopolitan](/source/cosmopolitan_distribution), but rare.<ref name=AlgaeBase/>

==Description==
''Volvulina'' is a multicellular organism. The colony, termed a [coenobium](/source/coenobium_(morphology)), is broadly ellipsoidal or spherical and consists of a fixed number of cells, usually 16 in mature individuals (rarely 4, 8 or 32). The cells are located at periphery of the coenobium and separated from each other by being embedded in a gelatinous matrix. The cell body is lens-shaped or hemispherical when mature, with two equal [flagella](/source/flagella). The chloroplast is dish- or bowl-shaped. Pyrenoids may be absent or present (located at the base of the chloroplast); [eyespots](/source/eyespot_apparatus) are present, with eyespots in anterior cells larger than those in posterior cells.<ref name=AlgaeBase/> The nucleus is centrally located<ref>[http://protist.i.hosei.ac.jp/PDB/images/Chlorophyta/Volvulina/index.html Protist Images: ''Volvulina''.]</ref> and there may be two [contractile vacuole](/source/contractile_vacuole)s at the base of each flagella, or several scattered contractile vacuoles.<ref name=AlgaeBase/>

''Volvulina'' reproduces both asexually and sexually. In [asexual reproduction](/source/asexual_reproduction), each cell of the colony develops into a daughter colony through successive cell divisions, and then subsequent [colony inversion](/source/colony_inversion). Sexual reproduction is [isogamous](/source/isogamous).<ref name=AlgaeBase/>

==Species==
Three species of ''Volvulina'' are well-characterized: ''[Volvulina steinii](/source/Volvulina_steinii)'', ''[Volvulina pringsheimii](/source/Volvulina_pringsheimii)'', and ''[Volvulina compacta](/source/Volvulina_compacta)''.<ref name=AlgaeBase/> The three species differ from each other in morphology, namely: the shape of the cells and whether they are contiguous, and the presence or location of pyrenoids.<ref name=Nozaki1990>{{cite journal|doi=10.2216/i0031-8884-29-4-410.1 |title=''Volvulina compacta'' sp. nov. (Volvocaceae, Chlorophyta) from Nepal |date=1990 |last1=Nozaki |first1=H. |last2=Kuroiwa |first2=T. |journal=Phycologia |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=410–417 |bibcode=1990Phyco..29..410N }}</ref> In addition to these three species, there is also ''Volvulina playferiana'' which is poorly described and may be an immature form of ''V. steinii'',<ref name=Nozaki1990/> and ''Volvulina boldii'' which is a [nomen nudum](/source/nomen_nudum).<ref>{{cite journal|doi= 10.51033/jjapbot.85_6_10256|date= 2010|volume= 85|last1= Nakada|first1=T.|last2=Tomita|first2=M.|last3=Nozaki|first3=H.|title= ''Volvulina compacta'' (Volvocaceae, Chlorophyceae), new to Japan, and its phylogenetic position |journal= Journal of Japanese Botany}}</ref>

== Phylogeny ==
[Molecular phylogenetic](/source/Molecular_phylogenetic) studies show that ''Volvulina'' is [paraphyletic](/source/paraphyletic) with respect to ''[Pandorina](/source/Pandorina)'':<ref name=Lindsey2021>{{cite journal|doi=10.1186/s12915-021-01087-0|doi-access=free |title=Phylotranscriptomics points to multiple independent origins of multicellularity and cellular differentiation in the volvocine algae |date=2021 |last1=Lindsey |first1=Charles Ross |last2=Rosenzweig |first2=Frank |last3=Herron |first3=Matthew D. |journal=BMC Biology |volume=19 |issue=1 |page=182 |pmid=34465312 |pmc=8408923 |bibcode=2021BMCB...19..182L }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1093/gbe/evad142 |title=A Reinvestigation of Multiple Independent Evolution and Triassic–Jurassic Origins of Multicellular Volvocine Algae |date=2023 |last1=Ma |first1=Xiaoya |last2=Shi |first2=Xuan |last3=Wang |first3=Qiuping |last4=Zhao |first4=Mengru |last5=Zhang |first5=Zhenhua |last6=Zhong |first6=Bojian |journal=Genome Biology and Evolution |volume=15 |issue=8 |pmid=37498572 |pmc=10410301 }}</ref><ref name=Lindsey2024>{{Cite journal |last1=Lindsey |first1=Charles Ross |last2=Knoll |first2=Andrew H. |last3=Herron |first3=Matthew D. |last4=Rosenzweig |first4=Frank |date=2024-04-10 |title=Fossil-calibrated molecular clock data enable reconstruction of steps leading to differentiated multicellularity and anisogamy in the Volvocine algae |journal=BMC Biology |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=79 |doi=10.1186/s12915-024-01878-1 |issn=1741-7007 |pmid=38600528 |doi-access=free|pmc=11007952 |bibcode=2024BMCB...22...79L }}</ref>

{{clade
|1=
{{clade
|1=''[Platydorina](/source/Platydorina)'' + ''[Colemanosphaera](/source/Colemanosphaera)'' (outgroup)
|2={{clade
|1=''[Volvulina steinii](/source/Volvulina_steinii)''
|2={{clade
|1=
{{clade
|1="''[Volvulina boldii](/source/Volvulina_boldii)''"
|2=''[Pandorina colemaniae](/source/Pandorina_colemaniae)''
}}
|2=''[Pandorina morum](/source/Pandorina_morum)''
|3={{clade
|1=''[Volvulina compacta](/source/Volvulina_compacta)'' ''pro parte''
|2={{clade
|1=''[Volvulina compacta](/source/Volvulina_compacta)'' ''pro parte''
|2=''[Volvulina pringsheimii](/source/Volvulina_pringsheimii)''
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}

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

==External links==
* [http://protist.i.hosei.ac.jp/pdb/Images/Chlorophyta/Volvulina/index.html Volvulina] - Description with pictures

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1460963}}

Category:Chlamydomonadales genera
Category:Chlamydomonadales

{{Chlorophyceae-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Volvulina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvulina) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvulina?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.