Botryococcus braunii Kützing

Classification:
Empire Eukaryota
Kingdom Plantae
Phylum Chlorophyta
Class Trebouxiophyceae
Order Trebouxiales
Family Botryococcaceae
Genus Botryococcus

Pictures

click on thumbnail for larger version.

On bryophyte. Above Breidavik, NW Iceland. DF image.. 28 Oct 2010. © C.F.Carter(chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk,com).

Yardley Chase, Northamptonshire, UK. BF.. 27 Oct 2008. © C.F.Carter (chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk.com).

Unusual form. Widdybank Fell Upper Teesdale, UK, in Sphagnum. Collected by John O\'Reilly. BF.. 27 Oct 2008. © C.F.Carter (chris.carter@6cvw.freeuk.com).

Anderson Lake, Washington, USA; 400x DIC. 18 May 2008. Karl Bruun. © Karl Bruun (skogenman@earthlink.net).

Seattle, Washington, USA; Ship Canal, 1000x DIC. 02 Oct 2008. Karl Bruun. © Karl Bruun (skogenman@earthlink.net).

Kitsap Lake, Washington, USA; 1000x DIC. 12 Oct 2008. Karl Bruun. © Karl Bruun (skogenman@earthlink.net).

Botryococcus braunii Kützing Yardley Chase, Northamptonshire, UK. BF.

Publication details
Botryococcus braunii Kützing 1849: 892

Original publication: Kützing, F.T. (1849). Species algarum. pp. [i]-vi, [1]-922. Lipsiae [Leipzig]: F.A. Brockhaus.
Download PDF

Type species
This is the type species (holotype) of the genus Botryococcus.

Status of name
This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.

Synonym(s)
No synonyms are currently included in AlgaeBase.

General environment
This is a Freshwater species.

Usage notes
B. braunii has liquid-hydrocarbon biosynthetic capabilities and is therefore a promising source of renewable hydrocarbon fuels (Weiss et al. 2010). - (20 Sep 2010) - Wendy Guiry

Distribution by country

Type information
Type locality: In lacu Neoburgense, Helvetiae [Lake Neuenberg, Switzerland] (Kützing 1849: 892). Isotype: A. Braun 115; UC 790500

Detailed distribution with sources
(as Botryococcus braunii Kützing)
Arctic: Ellesmere Island (Croasdale 1973).

Europe: Britain (John & Tsarenko 2002, Whitton et al. 2003), Poland (Kokocinski et al. 2011), Romania (Caraus 2002, Caraus 2012), Spain (Alvárez Cobelas & Gallardo 1986, Cambra Sánchez, Álvarez Cobelas & Aboal Sanjurjo 1998, Fanés Treviño et al., 2009, Fanés Treviño, Comas González & Sánchez Castillo 2009, Fanés Treviño et al., 2009).

North America: Arkansas (Smith 2010), Ontario (Xenopoulos & Frost, 2003).

Caribbean Islands: Martinique (Plain, Largeau, Derenne & Couté 1993).

South America: Brazil (Menezes 2010).

South-west Asia: Turkey (Asia) (Soylu & Gonulol 2006).

Asia: China (Hu & Wei 2006), Taiwan (Anon. 2012).

South-east Asia: Singapore (Pham et al. 2011).

Australia and New Zealand: New South Wales (Day et al. 1995), New Zealand (Broady et al. 2012), Northern Territory (Day et al. 1995), Queensland (Day et al. 1995, Phillips 2002, Bostock & Holland 2010), Tasmania (Day et al. 1995), Victoria (Day et al. 1995).

Taxonomic notes
Results of phylogenetic analysis by Sayama et al. (1995: 419) indicated that B. braunii Kützing Berkeley strain is a member of the Chlorophyta and possibly related to Characium vacuolatum and Dunaliella parva (Chlorophyceae). Senousy et al. (2004) investigated the phylogenetic placement of four isolates of B. braunii (representing A, B and L chemical races). They found that these four isolates form a monophyletic group whose closest relatives are in the Trebouxiophyceae (unrelated to the sequence reported by Sawayama et al. 1995). The closest known relative of the four isolates of B. braunii is the genus Choricystis. Senousy et al. consider polyphyly of B. braunii to be unlikely and suggest that the presence of a contaminant could explain the results. Weiss et al. (2010) isolated the Berkeley strain nuclear SSU (18S) rRNA and ß-actin cDNA and used these sequences for phylogenetic analysis to confirm that the Berkeley strain belongs to the Tebouxiophyceae. - (21 Sep 2010) - Wendy Guiry

Key references
Barceló, M.C.. (1987). Estudi de la flora bentónica marina del País Valenciá. : Univ. de Barcelona.

Day, S.A., Wickham, R.P., Entwisle, T.J. & Tyler, P.A. (1995). Bibliographic check-list of non-marine algae in Australia. Flora of Australia Supplementary Series 4: i-vii, 1-276.

Fanés Treviño, I., Sánchez-Castillo, P. & Comas González, A. (2009). Contribution to the taxonomic study of the family Botryococcaceae (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta) in southern Spain. Cryptogamie, Algologie 30(1): 17-30.

Hu, H. & Wei, Y. (2006). The freshwater algae of China. Systematics, taxonomy and ecology. pp. [4 pls of 16 figs], [i-iv], i-xv, 1-1023. China: www.sciencep.com.

John, D.M. & Tsarenko, P.M. (2002). Order Chlorococcales. In: The Freshwater Algal Flora of the British Isles. An identification guide to freshwater and terrestrial algae. (John, D.M., Whitton, B.A. & Brook, A.J. Eds), pp. 327-409. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Tsarenko, P.M. (2011). Trebouxiophyceae. In: Algae of Ukraine: diversity, nomenclature, taxonomy, ecology and geography. Volume 3: Chlorophyta. (Tsarenko, P.M., Wasser, S.P. & Nevo, E. Eds), pp. 61-108. Ruggell: A.R.A. Gantner Verlag K.-G..

UTEX Cultures
UTEX Culture LB 572 Botryococcus braunii
Go to UTEX Site

CCAP Cultures
CCAP Strain Number 807/1 Botryococcus braunii Kützing
Go to CCAP Site

SAG Cultures
SAG Cultures may be viewed at http://sagdb.uni-goettingen.de/showstrains.php?genus=Botryococcus&species=braunii

SCCAP Cultures
Cultures from the Scandinavian Culture Collection of Algae at the University of Copenhagen (SCCAP) and Protozoa may be viewed at http://www.sccap.dk/search/algaebase.asp?Genus=Botryococcus&Species=braunii

NCBI Nucleotide Sequences

Created: 11 April 2002 by M.D. Guiry

Verified by: 19 March 2013 by M.D. Guiry

Accesses: This record has been accessed by users 13629 times since it was created.

References
(Please note: only references with the binomials in the title are included. The information is from the Literature database.)

Berkaloff, C., Rousseau, B., Couté, A., Casadevall, E., Metzger, P. & Chirac, C. (1984). Variability of cell wall structure and hydrocarbon type in different strains of Botryococcus braunii. Journal of Phycology 20: 377-389.
Brown, A.C. (1969). Some aspects of hydrocarbon formation in the green alga Botryococcus braunii Kütz. British Phycological Journal 4: 211.
Chang, I.Z., Huang, W.Y. & Wu, J.T. (2004). Allelochemicals of Botryococcus braunii (Chlorophyceae). Journal of Phycology 40: 474-480.
Chirac, C., Casadevall, E., Largeau, C. & Metzger, P. (1985). Bacterial influence upon growth and hydrocarbon production of the green alga Botryococcus braunii. Journal of Phycology 21: 380-387, 2 figs, 5 tables.
Metzger, P. & Casadevall, E. (1991). Botryococcoid ethers, ether lipids from Botryococcus braunii. Phytochemistry 30(5): 1439-1444.
Metzger, P., Allard, B., Casadevall, E., Berkaloff, C. & Couté, A. (1990). Structure and chemistry of a new chemical race of Botryococcus braunii (Chlorophyceae) that produces lycopadiene, a tetraterpenoid hydrocarbon. Journal of Phycology 26: 258-266, 7 figs, 5 tables.
Nonomura, A.M. (1988). Botryococcus braunii var. showa (Chlorophyceae) from Berkeley, California, United States of America. Japanese Journal of Phycology 36: 285-291.
Plain, N., Largeau, C., Derenne, S. & Couté, A. (1993). Variabilité morphologique de Botryococcus braunii (Chlorococcales, Chlorophyta): corrélations avc les conditions de croissance et la teneur en lipides. Phycologia 32(4): 259-265, 16 figs, 1 table.
Sawayama, S., Inoue, S. & Yokoyama, S.-Y. (1995). Note: Phylogenetic position of Botryococcus braunii (Chlorophyceae) based on small subunit ribosomal RNA sequence data. Journal of Phycology 31: 419-420, 1 fig.
Senousy, H.H., Beakes, G.W. & Hack, E. (2004). Phylogenetic placement of Botryococcus braunii (Trebouxiophyceae) and Botryococcus sudeticus isolate UTEX 2629 (Chlorophyceae). Journal of Phycology 40: 412-423.
Tenaud, M., Ohmori, M. & Miyachi, S. (1989). Inorganic carbon and acetate assimilation in Botryococcus braunii (Chlorophyta). Journal of Phycology 25: 662-667, 4 figs, 4 tables.
Vioque, J., Sirakova, T. & Kolattukudy, P.E. (1999). The malate dehydrogenase gene from Botryococcus braunii (Chlorophyta, Chlorophyceae): cloning, sequence analysis, and expression in Escherichia coli. Journal of Phycology 35: 121-127, 5 figs, 1 table.
Weiss, T.L., Johnson, J.S., Fujisawa, K., Sumimoto, K., Okada, S., Chappell, J. & Devarenne, T.P. (2010). Phylogenetic placement, genome size, and GC content of the liquid-hydrocarbon-producing green microalga Botryococcus braunii strain Berkely (Showa) (Chlorophyta). Journal of Phycology 46(3): 534-540.
Wolf, F.R. & Cox, E.R. (1981). Ultrastructure of active and resting colonies of Botryococcus braunii (Chlorophyceae). Journal of Phycology 17: 395-405, 31 figs.
Wolf, F.R. (1983). Botryococcus braunii: an unusual hydrocarbon-producing alga. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology 8: 249-260.
Wolf, F.R., Nonomura, A.M. & Bassham, J.A. (1985). Growth and branched hydrocarbon production in a strain of Botryococcus braunii (Chlorophyta). Journal of Phycology 21: 388-396, 5 figs, 4 tables.

Linking to this page: http://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=27992

Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 2013. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.algaebase.org; searched on 23 May 2013.

Algaebase taxon LSID: urn:lsid:algaebase.org:taxname:88623