''Coleochaete'' is a genus of

parenchyma upright=1.6, Lung parenchyma showing damage due to large subpleural bullae. Parenchyma () is the bulk of functional substance in an animal organ such as the brain or lungs, or a structure such as a tumour. In zoology, it is the tissue that ...

tous

charophyte Charophyta () is a paraphyletic group of freshwater green algae, called charophytes (), sometimes treated as a division, yet also as a superdivision. The terrestrial plants, the Embryophyta emerged deep within Charophyta, possibly from terres ...

green algae The green algae (: green alga) are a group of chlorophyll-containing autotrophic eukaryotes consisting of the phylum Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister group that contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/ Streptophyta. The land plants ...

in the order

Coleochaetales Coleochaetaceae is a family of algae. It is the only family in the Coleochaetales, an order of parenchymous charophyte algae, within the class Coleochaetophyceae. It includes some of the closest multicellular relatives of land plants. It cont ...

. They are

haploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell (biology), cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for Autosome, autosomal and Pseudoautosomal region, pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the num ...

, reproduce both sexually and asexually, and have true multicellular organisation, with

plasmodesmata Plasmodesmata (singular: plasmodesma) are microscopic channels which traverse the cell walls of plant cells and some algal cells, enabling transport and communication between them. Plasmodesmata evolved independently in several lineages, and spe ...

communicating between adjacent cells. The plants form flat, sprawling discs on solid surfaces in freshwater streams worldwide, usually as

epiphytes An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

aquatic plants Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic environments ( saltwater or freshwater). In lakes, rivers and wetlands, aquatic vegetations provide cover for aquat ...

or growing on the surface of stones. They are seen as one of two most probable sister groups to land plant species, the second candidate group being the

Characeae Characeae is a family of freshwater green algae in the order Charales, commonly known as stoneworts. They are also known as brittleworts or skunkweed, from the fragility of their lime-encrusted stems, and from the foul odor these produce when ste ...

. The issue is still not resolved. As they show some of the earliest and simplest features of multicellular plant growth, they are ideal

model organism A model organism is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workings of other organisms. Mo ...

s in the field of

synthetic biology Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary field of science that focuses on living systems and organisms. It applies engineering principles to develop new biological parts, devices, and systems or to redesign existing systems found in nat ...

. They are easy to culture and techniques that have been used to study ''

Arabidopsis thaliana ''Arabidopsis thaliana'', the thale cress, mouse-ear cress or arabidopsis, is a small plant from the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to Eurasia and Africa. Commonly found along the shoulders of roads and in disturbed land, it is generally ...

'' are now being applied to ''Coleochaete''. Experimental systems for plant morphogenesis ''Coleochaete'' has a sterile jacket of cells that surround the gametangia and

zygote A zygote (; , ) is a eukaryote, eukaryotic cell (biology), cell formed by a fertilization event between two gametes. The zygote's genome is a combination of the DNA in each gamete, and contains all of the genetic information of a new individ ...

s that are protected by a layer of sterile cells after fertilization. However, unlike land plants, ''Coleochaete'' has zygotic meiosis, meiosis taking place directly in the zygote and not in diploid cells resulting from mitotic division of the zygote.

Species

* '' Coleochaete divergens'' () * ''

Coleochaete irregularis ''Coleochaete'' is a genus of parenchymatous charophyte green algae in the order Coleochaetales. They are haploid, reproduce both sexually and asexually, and have true multicellular organisation, with plasmodesmata communicating between adjacen ...

'' () * ''

Coleochaete nitellarum ''Coleochaete'' is a genus of parenchymatous charophyte green algae in the order Coleochaetales. They are haploid, reproduce both sexually and asexually, and have true multicellular organisation, with plasmodesmata communicating between adjacen ...

'' () * ''

Coleochaete orbicularis ''Coleochaete'' is a genus of parenchymatous charophyte green algae in the order Coleochaetales. They are haploid, reproduce both sexually and asexually, and have true multicellular organisation, with plasmodesmata communicating between adjacen ...

'' () * ''

Coleochaete pulvinata ''Coleochaete'' is a genus of parenchymatous charophyte green algae in the order Coleochaetales. They are haploid, reproduce both sexually and asexually, and have true multicellular organisation, with plasmodesmata communicating between adjacen ...

'' () * ''

Coleochaete sampsonii ''Coleochaete'' is a genus of parenchymatous charophyte green algae in the order Coleochaetales. They are haploid, reproduce both sexually and asexually, and have true multicellular organisation, with plasmodesmata communicating between adjacen ...

'' () * ''

Coleochaete scutata ''Coleochaete'' is a genus of parenchymatous charophyte green algae in the order Coleochaetales. They are haploid, reproduce both sexually and asexually, and have true multicellular organisation, with plasmodesmata communicating between adjacen ...

'' () * ''

Coleochaete soluta ''Coleochaete'' is a genus of parenchymatous charophyte green algae in the order Coleochaetales. They are haploid, reproduce both sexually and asexually, and have true multicellular organisation, with plasmodesmata communicating between adjacen ...

'' ()

References

External links

* Charophyta Charophyta genera {{green algae-stub