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- Each cell has a pair
of equal flagella,
- as noted above by
the white arrows.
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- Pandorina is a green alga composed of 8, 16,
or sometimes 32 cells held together at their bases to form a
globular colony surrounded by mucilage. The cells are ovoid or
slightly narrowed at one end to appear keystone- or pear-shaped.
Each cell has two flagella with two contractile vacuoles at their
base, an eyespot, and a large cup-shaped chloroplast with at
least one pyrenoid.
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- The colonies coordinate their
flagellar movement
- to create a rolling, swimming
motion. Pandorina shows the beginnings of the colony polarity
and differentiation seen in Volvox since the anterior
cells have larger eyespots. Molecular sequencing has shown that
Pandorina is monophyletic.
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