Braarudosphaera bigelowii
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous–present
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
(unranked):
Haptophyta
Class:
Prymnesiophyceae
Order:
Coccosphaerales
Family:
Braarudosphaeraceae
Genus:
Braarudosphaera
Species:
B. bigelowii
Binomial name
Braarudosphaera bigelowii
(Gran & Braarud) Deflandre[1]

Braarudosphaera bigelowii is a coastal coccolithophore in the fossil record going back 100 million years. The family Braarudosphaeraceae are single-celled coastal phytoplanktonic algae with calcareous scales with five-fold symmetry, called pentaliths. With 12 sides, it has a regular dodecahedral structure, approximately 10 micrometers across.[2]

(A) SEM image of a cell of B. bigelowii surrounded by 12 pentaliths. A pentalith (calcareous scale of the Braarudosphaeraceae) indicated by the blue open pentagon consists of five trapezoidal segments. Black arrow indicates "side length of the pentalith" where the measurements were conducted. (B) SEM image of pentalith of B. bigelowii (proximal side). (C) Close up of proximal side in previous image showing laminar structure. (D) – (F) light microscope images of three different specimens.[2]

The genus name of Braarudosphaera is in honour of Trygve Braarud (1903–1985), who was a Norwegian botanist. He specialized in marine biology, and was affiliated with the University of Oslo.[3]

References

  1. ^ Guiry, M.D.; Guiry, G.M. "Braarudosphaera bigelowii". AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway.
  2. ^ a b Hagino, K., Onuma, R., Kawachi, M. and Horiguchi, T. (2013) "Discovery of an endosymbiotic nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium UCYN-A in Braarudosphaera bigelowii (Prymnesiophyceae)". PLoS One, 8(12): e81749. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0081749.
  3. ^ Burkhardt, Lotte (2022). Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen [Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2022. ISBN 978-3-946292-41-8. Retrieved January 27, 2022.


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