Definition
noun, plural: glaucophytes
Any of the freshwater microscopic algae of the Kingdom Archaeplastida
Supplement
The glaucophytes are rare freshwater microscopic algae.1 They are taxonomically classified under Kingdom Archaeplastida. Kingdom Archaeplastida is a taxonomic group comprised of land plants, green algae, red algae, and glaucophytes. It is sometimes used in synonymous to Plantae. However, the stricter use of the term Plantae is one that which includes only the land plants and green algae. Archaeplastida is more general in including the red algae and the glaucophytes. The relationship among the glaucophytes, red algae, and green algae is unclear.2 One of the distinct features of glaucophytes is a chloroplast with a peptidoglycan layer, which indicates a possible remnant of the endosymbiotic origin of plastids from cyanobacteria.1
The glaucophytes include the following genera: Glaucosystis, Cyanophora, Gloeochaete, and Cyanoptyche.
Scientific classification:
- Domain: Eukarya
- Kingdom: Archaeplastida
- Phylum: Glaucophyta (Skuja, 1954)
- Class: Glaucophyceae Bohlin, 1901
- Order: Glaucocystales Bessey, 1907
- Family: Glaucocystaceae G. S. West, 1904
Other common name(s):
- glaucocystophyte
- glaucocystid
See also:
Reference(s):
1 Keeling, P. J. (2004). “Diversity and evolutionary history of plastids and their hosts”. American Journal of Botany. 91 (10): 1481–1493.
2 Palmer, J. D., Soltis, D. E., & Chase, M. W. (2004). “The plant tree of life: an overview and some points of view”. American Journal of Botany. 91 (10): 1437–1445.
