''Botryococcus'' is a genus of

green algae The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...

. The cells form an irregularly shaped aggregate. Thin filaments connect the cells. The cell body is ovoid, 6 to 10 μm long, and 3 to 6 μm wide. Fossils of the genus are known since

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

times, and form the single largest biological contributor to

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

, and are a major component of oil shales.

Description

Appears as colonies of cells irregularly arranges cells in a folded mucilage. Cells spherical or oval, chloroplast net-like with a single pyrenoid.Guiry, M.D., John, D.M., Rindi, F. and McCarthy, T.K (Ed) 2007. ''New Survey of Clare Island Volume 6: The Freshwater and Terrestrial Algae.'' Royal Irish Academy. ISBN<978-1-904890-31-7 The most prominent member is ''

Botryococcus braunii ''Botryococcus braunii'' is a green, pyramid-shaped planktonic microalga that is of potentially great importance in the field of biotechnology. Colonies held together by a lipid biofilm matrix can be found in temperate or tropical oligotrophic l ...

''. Other species: *''B. protubens'' West et G.S.West.

References

Trebouxiophyceae genera Trebouxiophyceae Trebouxiales Taxa named by Friedrich Traugott Kützing {{green algae-stub