Trentepohliales

Colony of Trentepohlia aurea on limestone wall, copyright Malcolm Storey.

Belongs within: Tetraphytae.

The Trentepohliales are a group of algae found in terrestrial habitats, such as among soil or rocks, in association with fungi to form lichens, or as epiphytes or parasites on plants.

Characters (from López-Bautista, Waters & Chapman 2002): Thallus usually developing a filamentous structure forming either uniseriated, branched, erect tufts or laterally coherent, prostrate discs; sometimes highly reduced, producing short vegetative filament a few cells in length. Cells uni- or multinucleate, with several parietal chloroplasts that can be discoid or band-shaped, sometimes appearing reticulate; pyrenoids absent; ß-carotene and haematochrome (astaxanthin) present, coloring thallus yellow, orange, or red; cell walls transverse with plasmodesmata. Reproduction by asexual quadriflagellate zoospores or sexual biflagellate gametes; flagellate cells strongly compressed dorsiventrally. Flagellar apparatus with pair of columnar structures resembling multilayered structures (MLS) of Charales; four microtubular roots present, appressed to basal bodies; each flagellum bearing bilateral wing-like structures.

Trentepohliales
    |--Phycopeltis L-BC03
    `--Trentepohlia [Trentepohliaceae] L-BC03
         |  i. s.: T. iolithus L-BWC03
         |         T. odorata L-BC03
         |--T. dialepta L-BC03
         `--+--Cephaleuros L-BC03
            |    |--C. parasiticus L-BC03
            |    `--C. virescens L-BC03
            `--+--T. aurea L-BC03
               `--+--T. arborum L-BC03
                  `--Physolinum monile L-BC03

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[L-BC03] López-Bautista, J. M., & R. L. Chapman. 2003. Phylogenetic affinities of the Trentepohliales inferred from small-subunit rDNA. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 53: 2099–2106.

[L-BWC03] López-Bautista, J. M., D. A. Waters & R. L. Chapman. 2003. Phragmoplastin, green algae and the evolution of cytokinesis. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 53: 1715–1718.