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Green algae
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{{Short description|Paraphyletic group of eukaryotes}} {{For|an explanation of its other names|Viridiplantae|Plantae}} {{For|the bacteria commonly known as blue-green algae that can produce toxic blooms in lakes and other waters|Cyanobacteria}} {{Paraphyletic group | name = Green algae | image = <imagemap> File:Green_algae.png|250px rect 0 0 1000 750 [[Picocystophyceae]] rect 0 750 1000 1500 [[Trebouxiophyceae]] rect 0 1500 1000 2250 [[Klebsormidiophyceae]] rect 0 2250 1000 3000 [[Zygnematophyceae]] rect 1000 0 2000 750 [[Ulvophyceae]] rect 1000 750 2000 1500 [[Chlorophyceae]] rect 1000 1500 2000 2250 [[Charophyceae]] rect 1000 2250 2000 3000 [[Desmid]] </imagemap> | image_caption = Green algal diversity. From top left corner: ''Picocystis'' ([[Picocystophyceae]]), ''[[Acetabularia]]'' ([[Ulvophyceae]]), ''[[Botryococcus]]'' ([[Trebouxiophyceae]]), ''[[Volvox]]'' ([[Chlorophyceae]]), ''[[Klebsormidium]]'' ([[Klebsormidiophyceae]]), ''[[Chara (alga)|Chara]]'' ([[Charophyceae]]), ''[[Spirogyra]]'' and ''[[Micrasterias]]'' ([[Zygnematophyceae]]) | auto = yes | parent = Viridiplantae | includes = * [[Prasinodermophyta]] * [[Chlorophyta]] * [[Mesostigmatophyceae]] * [[Klebsormidiophyceae]] * [[Chlorokybophyceae]] * [[Coleochaetophyceae]] * [[Charophyceae]] * [[Zygnematophyceae]] | excludes = * [[Embryophyta]] }} The '''green algae''' ({{singular}}: '''green alga''') are a group of [[chlorophyll]]-containing [[autotroph]]ic [[eukaryote]]s consisting of the phylum [[Prasinodermophyta]] and its unnamed [[sister group]] that contains the [[Chlorophyta]] and [[Charophyta]]/[[Streptophyta]]. The [[land plant]]s ([[Embryophyte]]s) have emerged deep within the charophytes as a sister of the [[Zygnematophyceae]].<ref name="HuanLiu-2020" /><ref name="Delwiche-2011" /><ref name="Palmer-2004">{{cite journal |vauthors=Palmer JD, Soltis DE, Chase MW |date=October 2004 |title=The plant tree of life: an overview and some points of view |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=91 |issue=10 |pages=1437–45 |doi=10.3732/ajb.91.10.1437 |pmid=21652302 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Since the realization that the Embryophytes emerged within the green algae, some authors are starting to include them.<ref name="Delwiche-2011">{{cite journal |vauthors=Delwiche CF, Timme RE |title=Plants |journal=Current Biology |volume=21 |issue=11 |pages=R417–22 |date=June 2011 |pmid=21640897 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2011.04.021 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.life.umd.edu/labs/delwiche/Charophyte.html|title=Charophycean Green Algae Home Page |website=www.life.umd.edu |access-date=2018-02-24 }}</ref><ref name="Ruhfel-2014" /><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Delwiche CF, Cooper ED |title=The Evolutionary Origin of a Terrestrial Flora |language=en |journal=Current Biology |volume=25 |issue=19 |pages=R899–910 |date=October 2015 |pmid=26439353 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2015.08.029 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Parfrey LW, Lahr DJ, Knoll AH, Katz LA |title=Estimating the timing of early eukaryotic diversification with multigene molecular clocks |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=108 |issue=33 |pages=13624–9 |date=August 2011 |pmid=21810989 |pmc=3158185 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1110633108 |bibcode=2011PNAS..10813624P |doi-access=free }}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=November 2021}} The completed [[clade]] that includes both green algae and embryophytes is [[monophyletic]] and is referred to as the clade [[Viridiplantae]] and as the kingdom [[Plant]]ae. The green algae include unicellular and colonial [[flagellate]]s, most with two [[flagellum|flagella]] per cell, as well as various colonial, coccoid (spherical), and filamentous forms, and macroscopic, multicellular [[seaweed]]s. There are about 22,000 species of green algae,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Guiry MD | title = How many species of algae are there? | journal = Journal of Phycology | volume = 48 | issue = 5 | pages = 1057–63 | date = October 2012 | pmid = 27011267 | doi = 10.1111/j.1529-8817.2012.01222.x | s2cid = 30911529 }}</ref> many of which live most of their lives as single cells, while other species form [[coenobium (morphology)|coenobia]] (colonies), long filaments, or highly differentiated macroscopic seaweeds. A few other organisms rely on green algae to conduct [[photosynthesis]] for them. The [[chloroplast]]s in [[dinoflagellate]]s of the genus ''[[Lepidodinium]]'', [[euglenid]]s and [[chlorarachniophyte]]s were acquired from [[phagocytosis|ingested]] [[endosymbiont]] green algae,<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1038/s41598-017-18805-w | title=Plastid phylogenomics with broad taxon sampling further elucidates the distinct evolutionary origins and timing of secondary green plastids | year=2018 | last1=Jackson | first1=Christopher | last2=Knoll | first2=Andrew H. | last3=Chan | first3=Cheong Xin | last4=Verbruggen | first4=Heroen | journal=Scientific Reports | volume=8 | issue=1 | page=1523 | pmid=29367699 | pmc=5784168 | bibcode=2018NatSR...8.1523J }}</ref> and in the latter retain a [[nucleomorph]] (vestigial nucleus). Green algae are also found symbiotically in the ciliate ''[[Paramecium]]'', and in ''[[Hydra viridissima]]'' and in [[flatworm]]s. Some species of green algae, particularly of genera ''[[Trebouxia]]'' of the class ''[[Trebouxiophyceae]]'' and ''[[Trentepohlia (alga)|Trentepohlia]]'' (class [[Ulvophyceae]]), can be found in symbiotic associations with [[fungi]] to form [[lichen]]s. In general the fungal species that partner in lichens cannot live on their own, while the algal species is often found living in nature without the fungus. ''Trentepohlia'' is a filamentous green alga that can live independently on humid soil, rocks or tree bark or form the photosymbiont in lichens of the family [[Graphidaceae]]. Also the macroalga ''[[Prasiola calophylla]]'' (Trebouxiophyceae) is terrestrial,<ref>{{Cite journal |pmc = 5474099 |year = 2017 |last1 = Holzinger |first1 = A. |title = The terrestrial green macroalga ''Prasiola calophylla'' (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta): Ecophysiological performance under water-limiting conditions |journal = Protoplasma |volume = 254 |issue = 4 |pages = 1755–1767 |last2 = Herburger |first2 = K. |last3 = Blaas |first3 = K. |last4 = Lewis |first4 = L. A. |last5 = Karsten |first5 = U. |pmid = 28066876 |doi = 10.1007/s00709-016-1068-6 }}</ref> and ''[[Prasiola crispa]]'', which live in the [[supralittoral zone]], is terrestrial and can in the Antarctic form large carpets on humid soil, especially near bird colonies.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi=10.3389/fmolb.2017.00089 |pmid=29359133 |pmc=5766667 |title=De novo Assembly and Annotation of the Antarctic Alga Prasiola crispa Transcriptome |journal=Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences |volume=4 |pages=89 |year=2018 |last1=Carvalho |first1=Evelise L. |last2=MacIel |first2=Lucas F. |last3=MacEdo |first3=Pablo E. |last4=Dezordi |first4=Filipe Z. |last5=Abreu |first5=Maria E. T. |last6=Victória |first6=Filipe de Carvalho |last7=Pereira |first7=Antônio B. |last8=Boldo |first8=Juliano T. |last9=Wallau |first9=Gabriel da Luz |last10=Pinto |first10=Paulo M. |doi-access=free }}</ref>
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