MORPHOLOGICAL AND ULTRASTRUCTURAL FEATURES OF A STRAIN OF BOTRYOCOCCUS TERRIBILIS (TREBOUXIOPHYCEAE) FROM BRAZIL(1).

The genus Botryococcus comprises a group of cosmopolitan species of freshwater colonial green algae, some of which synthesize and accumulate an unusually high level (15-76%) of liquid hydrocarbons. This characteristic suggests the possibility of exploiting species from this group as renewable sources for jet fuel. An oil-rich strain of Botryococcus (Trebouxiophyceae) was isolated from a freshwater pond in the state of Bahia, Brazil, and is presently maintained under standard conditions at the Culture Collection of the Institute of Biology, Federal University of Bahia.