''Bacillaria'' is a

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma'') is any member of a large group comprising several Genus, genera of algae, specifically microalgae, found in the oceans, waterways and soils of the world. Living diatoms make up a significant portion of Earth's B ...

genus in the family

Bacillariaceae Bacillariaceae is a family of diatoms, the only family in the order Bacillariales. Some species of genera such as '' Nitzchia'' are found in halophilic environments; for example, in the seasonally flooded Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana. Genera T ...

Species

*'' Bacillaria paradoxa'' Gmelin 1788 *'' Bacillaria paxillifer'' ( O.F. Müller) Hendey (1951)

Lifecycle

This genus is photosynthetic, and reproduces sexually and asexually.

Description

Cells are elongated and motile, sliding along each other, in stacked

colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

. Cells are rectangular in girdle view (when in colonies), and lanceolate in valve view. Raphe system is slightly keeled and runs from pole to pole. Two large plate-like

chloroplast A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle, organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant cell, plant and algae, algal cells. Chloroplasts have a high concentration of chlorophyll pigments which captur ...

s are present, one near each end of the cell. The

nucleus Nucleus (: nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucleu ...

is located centrally. Cells are yellow-brown in colour. Fibulae are strong, and the valve surface is covered in transverse parallel structures called striae. File:Bacillaria sp movement.webm, Video of several diatoms of the genus ''Bacillaria'' moving, in real time File:Bacillaria paxillifer.tif, ''Bacillaria paxillifer''

Space station

Three diatom species were sent to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

, together with the huge (6 mm length) diatoms of Antarctica and the exclusive colonial diatom, ''Bacillaria paradoxa''. The cells of ''Bacillaria'' moved next to each other in partial but opposite synchrony by a

microfluidic Microfluidics refers to a system that manipulates a small amount of fluids (10−9 to 10−18 liters) using small channels with sizes of ten to hundreds of micrometres. It is a multidisciplinary field that involves molecular analysis, molecular bi ...

s method.

Measurements

Length (apical axis): 70 - 200 μm Width (trans-apical axis): 5 - 8 μm Height (Pervalvar axis): 5 - 10 μm Fibulae: 7 - 9 in 10 μm Striae: 20 - 21 in 10 μm

Habitat

Benthic zone The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

, marine and brackish/freshwater species, but is also commonly found in

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

References

* Phytoplankton Encyclopedia Project {{Taxonbar, from=Q798285 Bacillariales Articles containing video clips Diatom genera