My watch list
my.bionity.com  
Login  

Desmid



Desmids
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Charophyta
Class: Zygnemophyceae
Order: Desmidiales
Families

Closteriaceae
Desmidiaceae
Gonatozygaceae
Peniaceae

Desmids are an order (Desmidiales) of green algae, comprising around 40 genera and 5,000[1] to 6,000[2] species, found mostly but not exclusively in fresh water. Most are unicellular, and are divided into two compartments separated by a narrow bridge or isthmus. Desmids assume a variety of highly symmetrical and generally attractive shapes, which provide the basis for their classification. Each compartment has one chloroplast, and no flagella. Sexual reproduction occurs through a process of conjugation, also found among the Zygnematales. These two groups are closely related, and may be united as the division Gamophyta. The desmids are sometimes treated as members of the Zygnematales, but more often given the separate order Desmidiales.

References

  1. ^ Van den Hoek, C., D. G. Mann, & H. M. Jahns, 1995. Algae:An Introduction to Phycology, page 468. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). ISBN 0-521-30419-9
  2. ^ Brook, Alan J., 1981. The Biology of Desmids, page 1. (Berkeley: University of California Press). ISBN 0-520-04281-6
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Desmid". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
Your browser is not current. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 does not support some functions on Chemie.DE