Rozella

Rozella is a fungal genus of obligate endoparasites of a variety of hosts, including Oomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Blastocladiomycota. Rozella was circumscribed by French mycologist Marie Maxime Cornu in 1872. Considered one of the earliest diverging lineages of fungi, the widespread genus contains 27 species, with the most well studied being Rozella allomycis. Rozella is a member of a large clade of fungi referred to as the Cryptomycota/Rozellomycota. While some can be maintained in dual culture with the host, most have not been cultured, but they have been detected, using molecular techniques, in soil samples, and in freshwater and marine ecosystems. Zoospores have been observed, along with cysts, and the cells of some species are attached to diatoms.

==Morphology== Rozella species grow inside their hosts. At first, the thallus is unwalled and indistinguishable from the host. As growth continues, the thallus will either form a zoosporangium using the wall of the host or a thick-walled resting spore that can be smooth or spiny. From its conception, there have been two divergent morphologies within the genus. Monosporangiate species form a single zoosporangium within the host. Polysporangiate species form multiple zoosporangia that are separated with septa.