Pandorina Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1824: 521, 600
Classification:
Empire Eukaryota
Kingdom Plantae
Subkingdom Viridaeplantae
Phylum Chlorophyta
Class Chlorophyceae
Order Volvocales
Family Volvocaceae
Lectotype species: Pandorina mora (O.F.Müller) Bory de Saint-Vincent
Original publication: Bory de Saint-Vincent, J.B.G.M. (1824). Encyclopedie méthodique. Histoire naturelle des zoophytes, ou animaux rayonnés, faisant suite à l'histoire naturelle des vers de Bruguière. pp. [i*-iii*], [i]-viii, [i]-869. Paris: Mme veuve Agasse.
Type designated in Ehrenberg, C.G. (1838). Infusionsthierchen als vollkommene Organismen. I-II. pp. 1-547, 64 pls.. Leipzig: Leopold Voss.
Taxonomic status: currently recognized as a distinct genus.
Description: Colonies ovoid or ellipsoidal, containing 16 or 32 cells arranged radially in a gelatinous matrix. Cells keystone-shaped, ovoid or spherical, each with two equal flagella, a stigma, two contractile vacuoles at base of flagella, and a massive cup-shaped chloroplast with one basal or multiple pyrenoids (species dependent). Stigmata in anterior cells larger than in posterior cells. Asexual reproduction by autocolony formation, each cell dividing successively to form a plakea, which inverts to become a daughter colony. In sexual reproduction, cells escape from gelatinous matrix to become isogametes, and walled aplanozygotes are formed. Upon germination zygotes give rise to single biflagellate gone cells.
Comments: Pandorina species are cosmopolitan in freshwater. Twenty sexually isolated groups (syngens) of P. mora were characterized based on hybridization among 70 clones; phylogeny was inferred based on distribution and karyotype. Pandorina was frequently confused with Eudorina because the original description of Pandorina was inadequate to distinguish the two genera. Pandorina is characterized as having contiguous cells in the colony. P. unicocca, however, has 32-celled colonies with non-contiguous cells similar to Eudorina. Pandorina is also distinguished by being isogamous. Based on colony ultrastructure, P. morum is closely related to Volvulina. Only P. morum and P. unicocca have been studied in laboratory culture. Various strains assigned to P. charkowiensis may be referred to P. unicocca (unipyrenoid) or Eudorina elegans (multipyrenoid). Pandorina morum and P. unicocca require no vitamins or other organic compounds, but are capable of mixotrophic growth in light. P. unicocca requires light for mating response, and calcium is necessary for zygote formation. Ultrastructural studies and chemical analyses showed that extracellular (gelatinous) matrix of P. morum was a multilayered structure containing hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins and sulfated polysaccharide. The matrix of P. mora suggested to be homologous to the cell wall of Chlamydomonas.
NCBI Nucleotide Sequences
Numbers of names and species: There are 22 species (and infraspecific) names in the database at present, of which 5 have been flagged as currently accepted taxonomically.
Names: ('C' indicates a name that is currently accepted taxonomically; 'S' a homotypic or heterotypic synonym; 'U' indicates a name of uncertain taxonomic status, but which has been subjected to some verification nomenclaturally; 'P' indicates a preliminary AlgaeBase entry that has not been subjected to any kind of verification. For more information on a species click on it to activate a link to the Species database):
Pandorina bengalensis M.T.Philipose C
Pandorina charkowiensis Korschikov C
Pandorina colemaniae H.Nozaki C
Pandorina cylindricum Iyengar P
Pandorina dujardinii (Perty) Diesing P
Pandorina elegans (Ehrenberg) Dujardin S
Pandorina hyalina Ehrenberg P
Pandorina leeuwenhoekii Bory P
Pandorina minodii R.Chodat C
Pandorina mora f. oligosoma Sokoloff & Ancona P
Pandorina mora var. tropica Playfair P
Pandorina mora f. major M.O.P.Iyengar P
Pandorina mora f. cylindrica Woloszynska P
Pandorina mora var. coelastroidea Playfair P
Pandorina mora (O.F.Müller) Bory de Saint-Vincent C - type
Pandorina morum var. tropica Playfair C
Pandorina pirum Eichwald P
Pandorina protuberans Tiffany P
Pandorina simplex De Fromentel P
Pandorina smithii Chodat P
Pandorina sphaerula Ehrenberg nomen nudum P
Pandorina unicocca W.R.Rayburn & R.C.Starr S
Information contributed by: H. Nozaki & M.D. Guiry. The most recent alteration to this page was made on 14 May 2010 by M.D. Guiry.
Contributors
Some of the descriptions included in AlgaeBase were originally from the unpublished Encyclopedia of Algal Genera,
organised in the 1990s by Dr Bruce Parker on behalf of the Phycological Society of America (PSA)
and intended to be published in CD format.
These AlgaeBase descriptions are now being continually updated, and each current contributor is identified above.
The PSA and AlgaeBase warmly acknowledge the generosity of all past and present contributors and particularly the work of Dr Parker.
Descriptions of chrysophyte genera were subsequently published in J. Kristiansen & H.R. Preisig (eds.). 2001. Encyclopedia of Chrysophyte Genera. Bibliotheca Phycologica 110: 1-260.
