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Pandorina



Pandorina
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Chlorophyta
Class: Chlorophyceae
Order: Volvocales
Family: Volvocaceae
Genus: Pandorina

Pandorina is a genus of green alga composed of 8, 16, or sometimes 32 cells, held together at their bases to form a globular colony surrounded by mucilage. The cells are ovoid or slightly narrowed at one end to appear keystone- or pear-shaped. Each cell has two flagella with two contractile vacuoles at their base, an eyespot, and a large cup-shaped chloroplast with at least one pyrenoid.

The colonies coordinate their flagellar movement to create a rolling, swimming motion. Pandorina shows the beginnings of the colony polarity and differentiation seen in Volvox since the anterior cells have larger eyespots. Molecular sequencing has shown that pandorina is monophyletic.

 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pandorina". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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