''Helicosporidium'' 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 colorless, pathogenic algae in the class Trebouxiophyceae of the

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 ...

. It is a

parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson h ...

found in the gut of insects, and a close relative of '' Prototheca''.''The Evolution of Parasitism - A Phylogenetic Perspective'' (2003), p. 46

References

External links

AlgaeBase page for Helicosporidium
Trebouxiophyceae genera Chlorellaceae {{green algae-stub