Micromonas

Micromonas is a genus of green algae in the family Mamiellaceae. Before the characterization in 2016 of a second species, Micromonas commoda, Micromonas pusilla was considered to be the only species in the genus, which led to a disproportionate amount of research discussing a single species within the genus. It is suggested to be the dominant photosynthetic picoeukaryote in some marine ecosystems. Unlike many marine algae, it is distributed widely in both warm and cold waters. It is a strong swimmer and exhibits a phototaxic response. Micromonas pusilla is divided into 3 to 5 different clades despite their similarity in morphologies and habitats. Varying ratios of clades contribute to the M. pusilla population throughout the marine ecosystem leading to the hypothesis of clades arising based on niche occupation and susceptibility to virus infection. Micromonas pusilla is considered the first picoplankton studied, when it was discovered and named Chromulina pusilla in the 1950s by R. Butcher. Later, electron micrographs by the English scientists, Irene Manton and Mary Park, in the 1960s provided further details on M. pusilla. Micromonas is a group of small unicellular pear-shaped micro-algae that do not have a cell wall. Just like other members in the class, they have a single mitochondrion and a single chloroplast, which covers almost half of the cell. They are able to swim due to the presence of a scale-less flagellum. The axonemal structure of the flagellum for this genus is different in that the peripheral microtubules do not extend up to the termination of the central pair of microtubules, allowing a visible investigation of the motion of the central pair. In Micromonas, the central pair constantly rotates in an anti-clockwise direction, despite the motion of other components of the flagellum. While the cell size, shape and the location of insertion of the flagellum into the cell are similar among strains and genetic clades, the variation in respective hair point length results in different lengths of the flagella within the genus. The antibiotic susceptibility was determined using a single strain of M. pusilla with the purpose to produce axenic cultures to be used in studies and experiments. The strain of M.pusilla was tested with a range of antibiotics to determine the possible effects of the particular antibiotic. Resistance: benzylpenicillin, gentamicin, kanamycin, neomycin, streptomycin