Helicosporidium is a genus of colorless, pathogenic algae in the class Trebouxiophyceae of the green algae.[2][3] It is a parasite found in the gut of insects, and a close relative of Prototheca.[4]

Helicosporidium
Helicosporidium under a light microscope
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Clade: Viridiplantae
Division: Chlorophyta
Class: Trebouxiophyceae
Order: Chlorellales
Family: Chlorellaceae
Genus: Helicosporidium
Keilin, 1921[1]
Species

References

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  1. ^ Keilin, D. (1921). On the life history of Helicosporidium parasiticum n. g. sp., a new species of protist parasite in the larvae of Dashelaea obscura Winn (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) and in some other arthropods. Parasitology 13: 97-113.
  2. ^ Tartar, A., Boucias, D. G., Becnel, J. J., and Adams, B. J. (2003) Comparison of plastid 16S rRNA (rrn 16) genes from Helicosporidium spp.: evidence supporting the reclassification of Helicosporidia as green algae (Chlorophyta). Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 53, 1719–1723.
  3. ^ See the NCBI webpage on Helicosporidium. Data extracted from the "NCBI taxonomy resources". National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  4. ^ The Evolution of Parasitism - A Phylogenetic Perspective (2003), p. 46
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