• ALGAE
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.123-135
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• 2021

The taxonomy of green microalgae relies traditionally on morphological traits but has been rapidly changing since the advent of molecular methods. Stichococcus Nägeli is a cosmopolitan terrestrial algal genus of the class Trebouxiophyceae that has recently been split into seven lineages, which, along with Pseudostichococcus, comprise the Stichococcuslike group; there is a need to further characterize these genera, since they are morphologically enigmatic. Here we used organic osmolytes as chemotaxonomic marker to verify the phylogenetic position of Stichococcus-like strains and were also able to exclude a strain hitherto identified as Gloeotila contorta from this group. Stichococcus-like organisms, including those recently revised, were characterized by the production of the polyol sorbitol and the disaccharide sucrose in high amounts, as is typical of Prasiola-clade algae. The results demonstrate that organic osmolyte chemotaxonomy can support green algal taxonomic designations as fundamental research.