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Pneumatocyst
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please discuss this issue on the talk page or replace this tag with a more specific message. This article has been tagged since July 2006. |
A pneumatocyst is a large float containing gas found in brown algae. An organism may have more than one. They provide buoyancy to lift the blades toward the surface, allowing them to receive more sunlight for photosynthesis.
The proportion of gases in the pneumatocysts adjusts by equilibrating with the surrounding air or water. The pneumatocyst can hold O2, CO2 and CO.
A pneumatocyst can also be an air bladder in the lungs which generally appears after a pulmonary trauma. These also go by the name of traumatic pneumatoceles.