XVI International Botanical Congess

The brown seaweeds, and other plantlike organisms that have golden-colored chloroplasts, belong to a lineage that has been called by several names including heterokonts, chromists (chromophytes), and stramenopiles. Stramenopile (straw hair) refers to the tripartite tubular hairs associated with most members of this group. The stramenopiles include zooflagellates, amoebae, fungus-like organisms and sporozoan-like protists as well as algae ranging in complexity from picoplanktonic unicells to giant seaweeds with differentiated tissues and meristematic growth. Recent research has added many new species and has uncovered several new subsidiary lineages. The presentation will present an overview of the group and evaluate progress towards a robust reconstruction of the stramenopile phylogenetic tree.