Ostreococcus tauri
Species of alga / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Ostreococcus tauri?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
SHOW ALL QUESTIONS
Ostreococcus tauri is a unicellular species of marine green alga about 0.8 micrometres (μm) in diameter, the smallest free-living (non-symbiotic) eukaryote yet described. It has a very simple ultrastructure, and a compact genome.
Quick Facts Ostreococcus tauri, Scientific classification ...
Ostreococcus tauri | |
---|---|
Transmission electron micrograph of an O. tauri cell | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
(unranked): | Viridiplantae |
Division: | Chlorophyta |
Class: | Mamiellophyceae |
Order: | Mamiellales |
Family: | Bathycoccaceae |
Genus: | Ostreococcus |
Species: | O. tauri |
Binomial name | |
Ostreococcus tauri C. Courties & M.-J. Chrétiennot-Dinet (1995) | |
Close
As a common member of global oceanic picoplankton populations, this organism has a major role in the carbon cycle in many areas and often uses light receptors called phototropins to sense external light.[1] Recently, O. tauri has been the subject of studies using comparative genomics and functional genomics,[2][3][4][5] as it is of interest to researchers because of its compact genome and green lineage.