''Prototheca'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

in the family

Chlorellaceae Chlorellaceae are a family (biology), family of green algae in the order Chlorellales.See the National Center for Biotechnology Information, NCBI]webpage on Chlorellaceae Data extracted from the This genus includes some important emerging path ...

. All the species within this genus, even though classified as

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 ...

, have forfeited their

photosynthetic Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored in c ...

ability and have switched to

parasitism Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...

. Some species can cause the

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

protothecosis Protothecosis, otherwise known as Algaemia, is a disease found in dogs, cats, cattle, and humans caused by a type of green alga known as ''Prototheca'' that lacks chlorophyll and enters the human or animal bloodstream. It and its close relative '' ...

, otherwise known as

Algaemia Algaemia is a secondary term that refers to the emerging condition in which green algae enter the bloodstream. Members of the genus ''Prototheca'' are the most common algae that leads to algaemia. ''Prototheca'' and Chlorella, which is extremely ra ...

. Symptoms include: Cutaneous lesions, Olecranon bursitis.

Etymology

From the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''proto''- (first) + ''thēkē'' (sheath), ''Prototheca'' is a genus of variably shaped spherical cells of achloric algae in the family

. Wilhelm Krüger, a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

expert in plant physiology and sugar production, reported ''Prototheca'' microorganisms in 1894, shortly after spending 7 years in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

studying sugarcane. He isolated ''Prototheca'' species from the sap of 3 tree species. Krüger named these organisms as ''P. moriformis'' and ''P. zopfii'', the second name as a tribute to

Friedrich Wilhelm Zopf Friedrich (or Friederich) Wilhelm Zopf (12 December 1846 – 24 June 1909) was a well-known German botanist and mycologist. He dedicated to his whole life with fungal biology, particularly in classification of fungi and dye production in fungi an ...

, a renowned botanist, mycologist, and lichenologist.

References

External links

Trebouxiophyceae genera Chlorellaceae {{green algae-stub