Читать книгу Algorithms in Bioinformatics - Paul A. Gagniuc - Страница 34

Eukaryotic unicellular organisms provide important clues to the schism that led to multicellularity. Also, single-celled eukaryotic organisms are particularly important biological models that can lead to a deeper understanding of the fundamental mechanisms behind the evolutionary process.

Marine life shows both the maximum and minimum sizes for unicellular organisms. For instance, a member of the green algae, Caulerpa taxifolia, is a unicellular organism of 30 centimeters in length, or more [78]. The Syringammina fragilissima is another example of a unicellular organism, which reaches ∼20–25 cm in diameter or Ventricaria ventricosa, which is a cell of 2–4 cm in diameter [79, 80]. On the other hand, the smallest unicellular eukaryote appears to be Ostreococcus tauri, a marine green alga with a diameter of about 0.8 μm [81, 82].