Bracteacoccus

Bracteacoccus is a genus of green algae, the sole genus of the family Bracteacoccaceae.^[1] It is a terrestrial alga commonly found in soils, from the tropics to the poles.^[2]

Bracteacoccus
Bracteacoccus aggregatus
Scientific classification
Clade:	Viridiplantae
Division:	Chlorophyta
Class:	Chlorophyceae
Order:	Sphaeropleales
Family:	Bracteacoccaceae P.M.Tsarenko
Genus:	Bracteacoccus Tereg, 1922[1]
Type species
Bracteacoccus aggregatus Tereg[1]
Species
See text

History

Bracteacoccus was described by E. Tereg in 1922, based on the species Bracteacoccus aggregatus.^[2] The name comes from the Latin term bractea, meaning a thin metal plate, and Greek kokkos, meaning berry.^[3] Later it was synonymized with the genus Dictyococcus, until Richard C. Starr reestablished the genus.^[4]

Description

Bracteacoccus consists of solitary, typically spherical cells from 4 to 110 μm in diameter.^[2] Mature cells have multiple nuclei (i.e. are multinucleate). Each cell has multiple chloroplasts lining the outer wall of the cell; each chloroplast is angular in shape and lacks pyrenoids.^[5]

Bracteacoccus reproduces asexually by producing zoospores. The zoospores have two flagella which are slightly unequal in length. Bracteacoccus may also reproduce by producing non-motile aplanospores.^[2]

Morphologically, the genus is essentially indistinguishable from Pseudomuriella and Chromochloris, except for the fact that the latter two genera do not take up fluorescent dyes as easily.^[6] The three genera are phylogenetically distinct.^[2] It is also similar to the genus Dictyococcus, but Dictyococcus has chloroplasts which are inflected inwards.^[4]

Genera

As of February 2022^[update], AlgaeBase accepted the following species:^[1]

• Bracteacoccus aerius H.W.Bischoff & Bold
• Bracteacoccus aggregatus Tereg
• Bracteacoccus anomalus (E.J.James) R.C.Starr
• Bracteacoccus bohemiensis Fuciková, Flechtner & L.A.Lewis
• Bracteacoccus bullatus Fuciková, Flechtner & L.A.Lewis
• Bracteacoccus deserticola Fuciková, Flechtner & L.A.Lewis
• Bracteacoccus giganteus H.W.Bischoff & Bold
• Bracteacoccus glacialis Fuciková, Flechtner & L.A.Lewis
• Bracteacoccus grandis H.W.Bischoff & Bold
• Bracteacoccus medionucleatus H.W.Bischoff & Bold
• Bracteacoccus minor (Schmidle ex Chodat) Petrová
• Bracteacoccus occidentalis Fuciková, Flechtner & L.A.Lewis
• Bracteacoccus polaris Fuciková, Flechtner & L.A.Lewis
• Bracteacoccus pseudominor H.W.Bischoff & Bold
• Bracteacoccus ruber Novis & Visnovsky
• Bracteacoccus xerophilus Fuciková, Flechtner & L.A.Lewis

A further species, Bracteacoccus helveticus (Kol & F.Chodat) Starr, was regarded as of "uncertain taxonomic status".^[1]