In today's article we are going to talk about Prochlorophyta, a topic that has undoubtedly sparked the interest of many people over time. This topic has been approached from different perspectives and has generated a wide debate in society. Over the years, Prochlorophyta has been the subject of study and research, leading to important discoveries and advances in the field. In this article, we will explore the various facets of Prochlorophyta and analyze its impact on different areas of life. In addition, we will examine some of the most relevant aspects related to Prochlorophyta, with the aim of providing a comprehensive and enriching vision on this topic.
Prochlorophyta | |
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Order: | Prochlorales Lewin, 1977
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Prochlorophyta is a group of photosynthetic bacteria, an important component of picoplankton. These oligotrophic organisms are abundant in nutrient poor tropical waters and use a unique photosynthetic pigment, divinyl-chlorophyll, to absorb light and acquire energy. Prochlorophyta lack red and blue phycobilin pigments and have stacked thylakoids, making them distinctly different from Cyanobacteria (or Cyanophyta), but some authors consider them as part of the Cyanobacteria, as the group Prochlorales.
This unique group of phytoplankton, with no phycobilin pigments, were initially found in 1975 near the Great Barrier Reef and off the coast of Mexico (Prochloron). Prochlorophyta was soon assigned as a new algal sub-class in 1976 by Ralph A. Lewin of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Other phytoplankton that lacked phycobilin pigments were later found in freshwater lakes in the Netherlands by Tineke Burger-Wiersma and colleagues and were termed Prochlorothrix (additional reading on Prochlorothrix can be found in a journal article by A.V. Pinevich ). In 1986 Prochlorococcus was found by Sallie W. (Penny) Chisholm and colleagues. Prochlorococcus may be responsible for a significant portion of the global primary production.
Prochlorophytes are very small microbes generally between 0.2 and 2 µm (photosynthetic picoplankton). They morphologically resemble Cyanobacteria (formally known as Blue Green Algae). Members of Prochlorophyta have been found as coccoid (spherical) (Coccus) shaped, as in Prochlorococcus, and as filaments, as in Prochlorothrix.