Glaucophyte

The glaucophytes, also known as glaucocystophytes or glaucocystids, are a

Glaucophyta
small group of rare freshwater microscopic algae.[1] Together with the red algae
(Rhodophyta) and the green algae plus land plants (Viridiplantae or
Chloroplastida), they form the Archaeplastida. However, the relationships among
the red algae, green algae and glaucophytes are unclear,[2] in large part due to
limited study of the glaucophytes.

The glaucophytes are of interest to biologists studying the development of

chloroplasts because some studies suggest they may be similar to the original
algal type that led to green plants and red algae in that they may be basal
Archaeplastida.[1][3]
Glaucocystis sp.

Scientific classification
(unranked): Archaeplastida
Contents Division: Glaucophyta
Characteristics Skuja, 1948
Classification
Class: Glaucophyceae
References
Bohlin, 1901
External links
Order: Glaucocystales
Bessey, 1907
Characteristics Family: Glaucocystaceae
The chloroplasts of glaucophytes are known as 'cyanelles' or 'cyanoplasts'. Unlike G. S. West, 1904
the chloroplasts in other organisms, they have a peptidoglycan layer, believed to
Possible genera
be a relic of the endosymbiotic origin of plastids from cyanobacteria.[1]
Glaucophytes contain the photosynthetic pigmentchlorophyll a.[1] Along with red Glaucocystis
algae[1] and cyanobacteria, they harvest light via phycobilisomes, structures
consisting largely of phycobiliproteins. The green algae and land plants have lost
Cyanophora
that pigment.[4] Like red algae, and in contrast to green algae and plants, Gloeochaete
glaucophytes store fixed carbon in the cytosol.[5] Cyanoptyche
Glaucophytes have mitochondria with flat cristae, and undergo open mitosis Synonyms
without centrioles. Motile forms have two unequal flagella, which may have fine
Glaucocystophyta Kies & Kremer, 1986
hairs and are anchored by a multilayered system of microtubules, both of which
are similar to forms found in some green algae.[4]

Classification
[1] The four included genera are:
Only 13 species of glaucophytes are known, none of which is particularly common in nature.

Glaucocystis is immotile, though it retains very shortvestigial flagella, and has a cellulose wall.
Cyanophora is motile and lacks a cell wall.
Gloeochaete has both motile and immotile stages, and its cell wall does not appear to be composed of cellulose.
Cyanoptyche is the least studied of the four genera
The glaucophytes were considered before as part of familyOocystaceae, in the order Chlorococcales.[6]
References
1. Patrick J. Keeling (2004)."Diversity and evolutionary history of plastids and their hosts"(http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/co
ntent/full/91/10/1481). American Journal of Botany. 91 (10): 1481–1493. doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1481(https://doi.org/
10.3732%2Fajb.91.10.1481). PMID 21652304 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21652304).
2. Jeffrey D. Palmer, Douglas E. Soltis & Mark W. Chase (2004). "The plant tree of life: an overview and some points of
view" (http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/91/10/1437). American Journal of Botany. 91 (10): 1437–1445.
doi:10.3732/ajb.91.10.1437(https://doi.org/10.3732%2Fajb.91.10.1437). PMID 21652302 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/pubmed/21652302).
3. Eunsoo Kim & Linda E. Graham (2008). Redfield, Rosemary Jeanne, ed. "EEF2 Analysis Challenges the Monophyly
of Archaeplastida and Chromalveolata"(http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002621)(Free
full text). PLoS ONE. 3 (7): e2621. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002621(https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002
621). PMC 2440802 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440802) . PMID 18612431 (https://www.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18612431).
4. Skuja, A. (1948). Taxonomie des Phytoplanktons einiger Seen in Uppland, Schweden. Symbolae Botanicae
Upsalienses 9(3): 1-399.Guiry, M.D.; Guiry, G.M. (2008). "Glaucophyta" (http://www.algaebase.org/browse/taxonom
y/detail/?taxonid=4301). AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway.
5. Ball, S.; Colleoni, C.; Cenci, U.; Raj, J. N.; T
irtiaux, C. (10 January 2011). "The evolution of glycogen and starch
metabolism in eukaryotes gives molecular clues to understand the establishment of plastid endosymbiosis". Journal
of Experimental Botany. 62 (6): 1775–1801. doi:10.1093/jxb/erq411 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fjxb%2Ferq411).
PMID 21220783 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21220783).
6. http://cfb.unh.edu/phycokey/Choices/Glaucophyceae/GLAUCOCYSTIS/Glaucocystis_key
.html

External links
Guiry, M.D.; Guiry, G.M. (2008). "Glaucophyta". AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of
Ireland, Galway.

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