Volvulina is a genus of colonial green algae in the family Volvocaceae.[1] The colony (coenobium) 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 swollen sack. The cell body is lens-shaped or half spherical when mature with two flagella. The chloroplast is dish- or bowl-shaped. Pyrenoids may be present or absent, the stigma large. The nucleus is centrally located and there may be 4 to 8 contractile vacuoles. Sexual reproduction is by isogamy.[2]

Volvulina
Volvulina steinii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Clade: Viridiplantae
Division: Chlorophyta
Class: Chlorophyceae
Order: Chlamydomonadales
Family: Volvocaceae
Genus: Volvulina
Playfair
Species

References

edit
  1. ^ See the NCBI webpage on Volvulina. Data extracted from the "NCBI taxonomy resources". National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  2. ^ Protist Images: Volvulina.
edit