The Phragmoplastophyta (Lecointre & Guyader 2006) are a proposed sister clade of the

Klebsormidiaceae The Klebsormidiaceae are a family containing five genera of charophyte green alga forming multicellular, non-branching filaments. The genus '' Chlorokybus'' was previously included as well, but this problematic and poorly known genus is now place ...

in the Streptophyte/

Charophyte Charophyta () is a group of freshwater green algae, called charophytes (), sometimes treated as a division, yet also as a superdivision or an unranked clade. The terrestrial plants, the Embryophyta emerged within Charophyta, possibly from terr ...

clade. The Phragmoplastophyta consist of the Charophycaea and another unnamed clade which contains the

Coleochaetophyceae Coleochaetophyceae are a class of charophyte algae that includes some of the closest multicellular relatives of land plants The Embryophyta (), or land plants, are the most familiar group of green plants that comprise vegetation on Earth. Embr ...

Zygnematophyceae Zygnematophyceae (or Conjugatophyceae) is a class of green algae in the paraphylum streptophyte algae, also referred to as Charophyta, consisting of more than 4000 described species. It contains five orders: the Spirogloeales, the Serritaeniales, ...

, Mesotaeniaceae, and

Embryophytes The Embryophyta (), or land plants, are the most familiar group of green plants that comprise vegetation on Earth. Embryophytes () have a common ancestor with green algae, having emerged within the Phragmoplastophyta clade of green algae as siste ...

(land plants). It is an important step in the emergence of land plants within the green algae. It is equivalent to the ZCC clade/grade,

cladistically Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived cha ...

granting the Embryophyta. The

mitosis In cell biology, mitosis () is a part of the cell cycle in which replicated chromosomes are separated into two new nuclei. Cell division by mitosis gives rise to genetically identical cells in which the total number of chromosomes is maint ...

of Phragmoplastophyta takes place via a phragmoplast.

Another

synapomorphy In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to hav ...

of this clade is the synthesis of cellulose microfibrils by a complex of octameric cellulose synthetases. This complex crosses the plasma membrane and polymerizes molecules from the cytoplasm into cellulose microfibrils, which, together with each other, form fibrils, necessary in the formation of the wall. The Phragmoplastophyte wall is also formed of phenolic compounds. Below is a consensus reconstruction of green algal relationships, mainly based on molecular data.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3381654 Green algae