Superphylum Heterokonta | Family Ectocarpaceae Scientific name Ectocarpus siliculosus Rank Species | |
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Similar Ectocarpus, Brown algae, Ectocarpales, Eukaryote, Heterokont | ||
Ectocarpus siliculosus is a filamentous brown alga (Heterokontophyta). Its genome was the first brown macroalgal genome to be sequenced, with the expectation that E. siliculosus will serve as a genetic and genomic model for brown macroalgae.
The alga is unbranched and filamentous; it forms soft beards on larger plants or other firm substrata and grows up to 2 feet long.
Plants tufted, often only one to a few cm tall, but in exceptional cases up to 20 cm. Axes freely branched, main axis not distinguishable. Filaments up to 30μm in diameter, tapering toward the apices. sometimes forming terminal pseudohairs. Distribution: Cosmopolitan.
This species of ectocarpus has been shown to bind iron on its cells with non-specificity. This iron ion shell allows the algae to store and have a constant source of iron regardless of the conditions of the surrounding environment. This adaptation is important because this method of iron uptake is similar to that of terrestrial organisms and differs from the methods typically used in the marine environment such as siderophores.
