''Golenkinia'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of
green algae first described in 1894 by
Robert Chodat.
The genus is named for the Russian
phycologist Mikhail Iljitsch Golenkin. ''Golenkinia'' species live in
fresh water (including bodies of
black water such as
Winyah Bay
The Winyaw were a Native American tribe living near Winyah Bay, Black River, and the lower course of the Pee Dee River in South Carolina. The Winyaw people disappeared as a distinct entity after 1720 and are thought to have merged with the Wacc ...
) and are found around the world.
Description
Members of ''Golenkinia'' are spherical
unicellular organism
A unicellular organism, also known as a single-celled organism, is an organism that consists of a single cell, unlike a multicellular organism that consists of multiple cells. Organisms fall into two general categories: prokaryotic organisms a ...
s with numerous radiating spines. Their
cell walls are notably thick, which distinguishes them from members of the genus ''
Golenkinopsis''.
They contain a single walled cup-shaped
chloroplast, which in turn contains a
pyrenoid
Pyrenoids are sub-cellular micro-compartments found in chloroplasts of many algae,Giordano, M., Beardall, J., & Raven, J. A. (2005). CO2 concentrating mechanisms in algae: mechanisms, environmental modulation, and evolution. Annu. Rev. Plant Bio ...
in its base.
The pyrenoid is typically sheathed in starch.
Species of ''Golenkinia'' are typically solitary and do not form
colonies
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
or
coenobia except under laboratory conditions.
Their slender spines may become entangled, creating the false impression that the algae have formed a colony.
Taxonomic status
The precise taxonomic status of ''Golenkinia'' is
somewhat unclear due to the large number of revisions it has undergone.
It has traditionally been classed with other round, spine-bearing green algae, many of which are now assigned to the
class Trebouxiophyceae
The Trebouxiophyceae are a class of green algae, in the division Chlorophyta. Their circumscription within the green algae is not well established due to the need for more genetic studies at higher levels within the group.
Genera without interve ...
.
In 1982,
Hanuš Ettl and
Jiří Komárek placed ''Golenkinia'' with ''
Chlorotetraedron'' and ''
Polyedriopsis'' in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Neochloridaceae, under the
order Sphaeropleales.
In 1983,
Komárek and
Bohuslav Fott created the family
Golenkiniaceae to contain unicellular algae with round cells that had spines on the
cell wall. The genera ''Golenkinia'' and ''Polyedriopsis'' were placed within it.
Subsequent analysis of
18S rDNA in 2003 has found that ''Golenkinia'' and ''Polyedriopsis'' are not in fact closely related.
The same research assigned ''Golenkinia'' to the order
Chlamydomonadales
Chlamydomonadales, also known as Volvocales, are an order of flagellated or pseudociliated green algae, specifically of the Chlorophyceae.See the NCBIbr>webpage on Chlamydomonadales Data extracted from the Chlamydomonadales can form planar or ...
.
Further analysis in 2015 found that ''Golenkinia'' was loosely related to
''Jenufa'' and ''
Treubaria'', all together possibly representing a branch in Chlamydomonadales that would be a sister
clade to order Sphaeropleales.
This proposed clade remains unnamed, and its taxonomy is still not completely clear, despite further rDNA analysis performed in 2017.
Because of the frequent changes to its classification, some databases still show ''Golenkinia'' belonging to Golenkiniaceae.
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5580468
Chlamydomonadales
Chlamydomonadales genera