Podohedriella

Podohedriella is a genus of green algae in the family Selenastraceae. It is found in freshwater habitats or on damp wood.

Description
Podohedriella consists of single cells or colonies of two, four, or eight cells, which are attached by one end to a substrate. Cells are 17 to 50 μm long and 1.5 to 4 μm wide, and fusiform to crescent-shaped or sigmoidal in outline. Cells are heteropolar; the apical and basal ends are both pointed, but the apical ends are more sharply so. Cells contain a single nucleus and a single parietal chloroplast with pyrenoids; however, the pyrenoids lack a starch sheath.

As with other algae in the family Selenastraceae, reproduction occurs exclusively via autospores.

Taxonomy
Podohedriella was circumscribed by the phycologist František Hindák in 1988. He separated Podohedriella from the genus Podohedra by the absence of a pyrenoid. Its autospores are also arranged in parallel (versus serially in Podohedra). The former characteristic is ambiguous; algae in the family Selenastraceae were often considered to lack pyrenoids. Pyrenoids are typically present, but may be impossible to view with light microscopy without staining.