Phacotaceae is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

green algae The green algae (: green alga) are a group of chlorophyll-containing autotrophic eukaryotes consisting of the phylum Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister group that contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/ Streptophyta. The land plants ...

in the order

Chlamydomonadales Chlamydomonadales, also known as Volvocales, are an order of flagellated or pseudociliated green algae, specifically of the Chlorophyceae.See the NCBIbr>webpage on Chlamydomonadales Data extracted from the Chlamydomonadales can form planar o ...

. Members of this family are found in

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

habitats worldwide. Phacotaceae includes single-celled, mostly green organisms (one genus, '' Chlamydoblepharis''), has lost its ability to photosynthesize and is colorless). Cells are motile with two or four

flagella A flagellum (; : flagella) (Latin for 'whip' or 'scourge') is a hair-like appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, from fungal spores ( zoospores), and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many pr ...

. Cells are surrounded by a

cell wall A cell wall is a structural layer that surrounds some Cell type, cell types, found immediately outside the cell membrane. It can be tough, flexible, and sometimes rigid. Primarily, it provides the cell with structural support, shape, protection, ...

(also termed a lorica), which may be smooth, scrobiculate (with shallow pits) or with various patterning or outgrowths. The cell wall may fit the

protoplast Protoplast (), is a biology, biological term coined by Johannes von Hanstein, Hanstein in 1880 to refer to the entire cell, excluding the cell wall. Protoplasts can be generated by stripping the cell wall from plant, bacterium, bacterial, or f ...

, or protrude widely; it consists of one piece or two

watch glass A watch glass is a circular concave piece of glass used in chemistry as a surface to evaporate a liquid, to hold solids while being weighed, for heating a small amount of substance, and as a cover for a beaker (glassware), beaker. When used to ...

-like pieces with their edges joining. The cell wall is often colored yellowish to dark brown due to the presence of

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

calcium Calcium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to it ...

deposits. The cell wall has one, two or four openings at the anterior, from which the flagella emerge together or separately. Asexual reproduction occurs by the division of cells into

zoospore A zoospore is a motile asexual spore that uses a flagellum for locomotion in aqueous or moist environments. Also called a swarm spore, these spores are created by some protists, bacteria, and fungi to propagate themselves. Certain zoospores are ...

s; these develop within the parental cell lorica and are released through a crack in the old lorica, or the two halves separating. Sexual reproduction is

isogamy Isogamy is a form of sexual reproduction that involves Gamete, gametes of the same Morphology (biology), morphology (indistinguishable in shape and size), and is found in most Unicellular organism, unicellular eukaryotes. Because both gametes lo ...

anisogamous Different forms of anisogamy: A) anisogamy of motile cells, B) 283x283px Anisogamy is a form of sexual reproduction">egg cell">oogamy (egg cell and sperm cell), C) anisogamy of non-motile cells (egg cell and spermatia).">283x283px Anisogamy is ...

. Resting stages have been observed rarely. Phacotaceae as a family is characterized by its cells, which are similar in morphology to ''

Chlamydomonas ''Chlamydomonas'' ( ) is a genus of green algae consisting of about 150 species of unicellular organism, unicellular flagellates, found in stagnant water and on damp soil, in freshwater, seawater, and even in snow as "snow algae". ''Chlamydom ...

'' but surrounded by a lorica. As currently circumscribed, it is

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

, consisting of at least three

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

s. Members within each clade share some

ultrastructural Ultrastructure (or ultra-structure) is the architecture of cells and biomaterials that is visible at higher magnifications than found on a standard optical light microscope. This traditionally meant the resolution and magnification range of a c ...

features, but the traditional classification has not yet been reconciled with their evolutionary relationships.

References

Chlamydomonadales Chlorophyceae families Freshwater algae {{Chlorophyceae-stub