Arthronema Komárek & J.Lukavský, 1988

Holotype species: Arthronema africanum (Schwabe & Simonsen) Komárek & Lukavsky

Currently accepted name for the type species: Leptolyngbya africanoides G.S. Hentschke

Original publication and holotype designation: Komárek, J. & Lukavský, J. (1988). Arthronema, a new cyanophyte genus from Afro-Asian deserts. Algological Studies 50-53: 249-267.

Description: Filaments simple, unbranched, rarely solitary, usually joined and tangled in fine, diffluent mats, microscopic or later macroscopic, forming blue-green layers. Trichomes without mucilage, without sheaths, at crosswalls not or slightly constricted, isopolar, slightly irregularly waved, narrow, 0.8-5 _m wide, uniseriate, more or less cylindrical toward the ends, nonmotile. All cells cylindrical, after division more or less isodiametric or slightly shorter than wide, later up to 5-times longer than wide, without aerotopes, sometimes with several prominent granules within protoplast, with thylakoids arranged concentrically along the cell walls; end cells widely rounded or obtuse. Swollen involution cells appear in trichomes depending on environmental conditions. Cell content intensely blue-green, without phycoerythrin. No heterocytes or akinetes. Cell division transverse, sometimes asymmetric; all cells capable of division. Reproduction by trichome fragmentation in few-celled (to unicellular) nonmotile segments, without necridic cells. A. africanum grows in wet, saline desert areas (drying pools) of Libya and Kuwait, below the surface of sandy substrate. Probably more species exist with different ecology.

Information kindly contributed by J. Komárek but may now be outdated.

Taxonomic status: This name is currently regarded as a synonym of Leptolyngbya.

Gender: This genus name is currently treated as neuter.

Most recent taxonomic treatment adopted: Hentschke, G.S., Morais, J., Oliveira, F.L., Silva, R., Cruz, P. & Vasconcelos, V. (2024). Taxonomic updates in the family Leptolyngbyaceae (Leptolyngbyales, Cyanobacteria): the description of Pseudoleptolyngbya gen. nov., Leptolyngbyopsis gen. nov., and the replacement of Arthronema. European Journal of Phycology 59: [1-14].

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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Some of the descriptions included in AlgaeBase were originally from the unpublished Encyclopedia of Algal Genera, organised in the 1990s by Dr Bruce Parker on behalf of the Phycological Society of America (PSA) and intended to be published in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.

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Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
G.M. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 19 November 2024. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 24 November 2024