Living Beings
    Source-identified Guillardia theta; Microscopy montage: transmitted light, chloroplast fluorescence and DNA staining; experimental colors. Framed for display
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    41598 2017 2668 Fig2d HTML.jpg · Resized and converted to WebP for display. Microscopy montage: transmitted light, chloroplast fluorescence and DNA staining; experimental colors. Ryo Onuma, Neha Mishra, Shin-ya Miyagishima (contrast enhanced extract) · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Field guide · species

    Guillardia theta

    D.R.A.Hill & R.Wetherbee, 1990

    What does the authority mean?

    The authority credits the formal scientific description of the name. A year records publication of that description.

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    CryptophyceaePyrenomonadalesGeminigeraceae

    Guillardia theta is a unicellular cryptophyte alga with an unusually informative evolutionary history. Its plastid descends from a red alga incorporated into another eukaryotic cell.

    Public research profile · final editorial review pending.

    Compare species
    Tree of lifeScientific lineage
    1. LifeLife
    2. DomainEukaryota
    3. ClassCryptophyceae
    4. OrderPyrenomonadales
    5. FamilyGeminigeraceae
    6. GenusGuillardia
    7. SpeciesGuillardia theta
    Advanced classification

    Complete source lineage, including intermediate ranks. The standard view uses Life and the eight principal ranks.

    1. cellular organisms cellular root
    2. Eukaryota domain
    3. Cryptophyceae class
    4. Pyrenomonadales order
    5. Geminigeraceae family
    6. Guillardia genus
    7. Guillardia theta species
    Open in taxonomy explorer ↗

    Structure and identification

    The microscopy montage combines transmitted-light images with fluorescence channels. The colored signals mark cellular structures and should not be mistaken for the organism’s natural visible coloration.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗ · Scientific source 3 ↗

    Habitat and range

    The cited sequencing studies describe laboratory strains. A complete field distribution and habitat preference should not be inferred from those cultures alone.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗ · Scientific source 3 ↗

    Nutrition and metabolism

    A chloroplast supports photosynthesis. The plastid contains its own compact genome, distinct from the main nuclear genome.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗ · Scientific source 3 ↗

    Biological activity

    Cellular research distinguishes nuclear, plastid and mitochondrial functions rather than assigning all activity to a single genome.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗ · Scientific source 3 ↗

    Reproduction and life cycle

    Cells grow and divide as microscopic eukaryotes. The image follows cellular stages; these are not separate species or animal life stages.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗ · Scientific source 3 ↗

    Ecological role

    As an alga it contributes a photosynthetic lineage to microbial diversity. The cited genome studies do not provide a full account of its abundance in nature.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗ · Scientific source 3 ↗

    Distinctive adaptations

    A nucleomorph, a highly reduced remnant nucleus of the engulfed red-algal partner, persists beside the plastid. This is evidence of secondary endosymbiosis.

    Scientific source 1 ↗ · Scientific source 2 ↗ · Scientific source 3 ↗

    Evidence

    Sources

    Connected life

    No reviewed ecological connections in the collection yet.

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