Editing Chlorella (section)

== Taxonomy ==
''Chlorella'' was first described by [[Martinus Beijerinck]] in 1890. Since then, over a hundred taxa have been described within the genus. However, biochemical and genomic data has revealed that many of these species were not closely related to each other, even being placed in a separate class [[Chlorophyceae]]. In other words, the "green ball" form of ''Chlorella'' appears to be a product of [[convergent evolution]] and not a natural taxon.<ref name=Kreinitz2015>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.tplants.2014.11.005 |title=''Chlorella'': 125 years of the green survivalist |year=2015 |last1=Krienitz |first1=Lothar |last2=Huss |first2=Volker A.R. |last3=Bock |first3=Christina |journal=Trends in Plant Science |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=67–69 |pmid=25500553 |bibcode=2015TPS....20...67K }}</ref> Identifying ''Chlorella''-like algae based on morphological features alone is generally not possible.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Freshwater Algae in Northwest Washington, Volume II, Chlorophyta and Rhodophyta|year=2016 |doi=10.25710/fctx-n773|last1=Matthews |first1=Robin |journal=A Collection of Open Access Books and Monographs |publisher=Western Washington University }}</ref>

Some strains of "Chlorella" used for food are incorrectly identified, or correspond to genera that were classified out of true ''Chlorella''. For example, ''[[Heterochlorella luteoviridis]]'' is typically known as ''Chlorella luteoviridis'' which is no longer considered a valid name.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s10811-014-0431-2 |title=Review of the taxonomic revision of ''Chlorella'' and consequences for its food uses in Europe |year=2015 |last1=Champenois |first1=Jennifer |last2=Marfaing |first2=Hélène |last3=Pierre |first3=Ronan |journal=Journal of Applied Phycology |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=1845–1851 |bibcode=2015JAPco..27.1845C |s2cid=254605212 }}</ref>