DICTAPEDIAPreview
Open in TheBrain

Chlorella

<p ><i><b>Chlorella</b></i>&nbsp;is a&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genus" title="Genus" >genus</a>&nbsp;of single-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(biology)" title="Cell (biology)" >cell</a>&nbsp;green&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae" title="Algae" >algae</a>, belonging to the phylum&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorophyta" title="Chlorophyta" >Chlorophyta</a>. It is spherical in shape, about 2 to 10&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micrometre" title="Micrometre" >μm</a>&nbsp;in diameter, and is without&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagella" title="Flagella" class="mw-redirect" >flagella</a>.&nbsp;<i>Chlorella</i>&nbsp;contains the green photosynthetic pigments&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorophyll" title="Chlorophyll" >chlorophyll</a>-a and -b in its&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloroplast" title="Chloroplast" >chloroplast</a>. Through&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis" title="Photosynthesis" >photosynthesis</a>, it multiplies rapidly, requiring only<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide" title="Carbon dioxide" >carbon dioxide</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water" title="Water" >water</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunlight" title="Sunlight" >sunlight</a>, and a small amount of&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral" title="Mineral" >minerals</a>&nbsp;to reproduce.<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorella#cite_note-0" >[1]</a></sup></p>

<p>

The name&nbsp;<i>Chlorella</i>&nbsp;is taken from the&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language" title="Greek language" >Greek</a>&nbsp;<b>chloros</b>, meaning&nbsp;<i>green</i>, and the&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin" title="Latin" >Latin</a>&nbsp;diminutive suffix&nbsp;<b>ella</b>, meaning&nbsp;<i>small</i>.&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany" title="Germany" >German</a>&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochemist" title="Biochemist" >biochemist</a>&nbsp;and cell physiologist&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Heinrich_Warburg" title="Otto Heinrich Warburg" >Otto Heinrich Warburg</a>, awarded with the&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine" title="Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine" >Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine</a>&nbsp;for his research on cell respiration in 1931, also studied photosynthesis in<i>Chlorella</i>. In 1961,&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvin_Calvin" title="Melvin Calvin" >Melvin Calvin</a>&nbsp;of the&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California" title="University of California" >University of California</a>&nbsp;received the&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Chemistry" title="Nobel Prize in Chemistry" >Nobel Prize in Chemistry</a>&nbsp;for his research on the pathways of carbon dioxide assimilation in&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant" title="Plant" >plants</a>&nbsp;using&nbsp;<i>Chlorella</i>.&nbsp;</p>

<p>

In recent years, researchers have made less use of&nbsp;<i>Chlorella</i>&nbsp;as an&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_organism" title="Model organism" >experimental organism</a>&nbsp;because it lacks a&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_life_cycle" title="Biological life cycle" >sexual cycle</a> and, therefore, the research advantages of&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetics" title="Genetics" >genetics</a>&nbsp;are unavailable<sup class="Template-Fact" >[<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" >citation needed</a></i>]</sup>.

Many people believed&nbsp;<i>Chlorella</i>&nbsp;could serve as a potential source of food and energy because its <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthetic_efficiency" title="Photosynthetic efficiency" >photosynthetic efficiency</a>&nbsp;can, in theory, reach 8%,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorella#cite_note-1" >[2]</a></sup>&nbsp;comparable with other highly efficient crops such as sugar cane.

&nbsp;</p>

<h2 >Aquarium</h2>

<p ><i>Chlorella</i>&nbsp;can create green and opaque water problems in&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquarium" title="Aquarium" >aquaria</a>.&nbsp;<i>Chlorella</i>&nbsp;can grow due to high&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrate" title="Nitrate" >nitrate</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphate" title="Phosphate" >phosphate</a>&nbsp;levels or direct sunlight. Decreasing phosphate and nitrate by partial water change and moving the aquarium to shade can help alleviate the problem.</p>