| Ostreococcus tauri | |
|---|---|
| Transmission electron micrograph of an O. tauri cell | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Clade: | Viridiplantae |
| Division: | Chlorophyta |
| Class: | Mamiellophyceae |
| Order: | Mamiellales |
| Family: | Bathycoccaceae |
| Genus: | Ostreococcus |
| Species: | O. tauri
|
| Binomial name | |
| Ostreococcus tauri C. Courties & M.-J. Chrétiennot-Dinet (1995)
| |
Ostreococcus tauri is a unicellular species of marine green alga about 0.8 micrometres (μm) in diameter, the smallest free-living (non-symbiotic) eukaryote yet described. It has a very simple ultrastructure, and a compact genome.
As a common member of global oceanic picoplankton populations, this organism has a major role in the carbon cycle in many areas and often uses light receptors called phototropins to sense external light.[1] Recently, O. tauri has been the subject of studies using comparative genomics and functional genomics,[2][3][4][5] as it is of interest to researchers because of its compact genome and green lineage.
- ^ Veetil, S.K; Mittal, C; Ranjan, P; Kateriya, S (July 2011). "A conserved isoleucine in the LOV1 domain of a novel phototropin from the marine alga Ostreococcus tauri modulates the dark state recovery of the domain". Biochim Biophys Acta. 1810 (7): 675–82. doi:10.1016/j.bbagen.2011.04.008. PMID 21554927.
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