Algae is a general term for a big and varied group of living creatures that make their own food through photosynthesis. It is a group of species from different clades, so it is called polyphyletic. There are single-celled microalgae like Chlorella, Prototheca, and diatoms, as well as complex creatures like the giant kelp, a brown algae that can grow up to 50 meters (160 feet) long. Most live in water and make their own food. They don’t have many of the different types of cells and tissues that land plants have, like stomata, xylem, and phloem. Seaweeds are the biggest and most complicated marine algae. The most complicated freshwater algae are the Charophyte, a group of green algae that includes Spirogyra and stonewort’s, among other things.
From the 1830s on, algae were put into large groups based on their colors, such as red, brown, and green. Different chemicals in the chloroplasts, such as chlorophylls, carotenoids, and phycobiliproteins, give the leaves their different colors. There are a lot more than three groups of pigments, and each class of algae has its own set of pigments that are different from those of other classes.
Algae Characteristics
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- Algae are single, photosynthesis-based creatures. They can do between 50 and 60% of the world’s photosynthesis.
- Algae have single-celled sex parts that are not covered by the mother. On the other hand, plants have sexual parts that are made up of more than one cell, and the zygotes grow into eggs that also have more than one cell. The baby is protected by cells from the parents. –
- Algae take many forms:
- Some are single-cell.
- Some are like strands. Fibers that are made of different cells or groups of cells. Synergistic cells have structures with more than one node and do not stretch past the cell walls.
- Shape of some and all. They have more than one cell. They had a lot of branches that looked like leaves, like seaweed. The body that can’t tell the difference between real roots, stems, and leaves and doesn’t have xylem or phloem.
- All algae have colors that help them make food, like the green chlorophyll a, yellow carotenoids, and orange carotenoids. Some plants also have colors like lutein and phycoerythrin, which are not on this list. Also, they are important for the process of photosynthesis. Algae are put into different groups based on the kinds of pigments they have.
- There are many different ways for algae to live. Except for red algae, all algae can make cells with flagella that can move at some point in their life cycle.
- Almost all plants are watery. During growing, they are found in places that are damp. They live in the seas, freshwater, ponds, lakes, rivers, hot springs, frozen ice, wet earth, trees, and rocks.
Algae Classification
The Eugenides
- Before, E-like insects were put into groups based on whether they were plants (algae) or animals (protozoa). Molecular studies show that flagellates and carotenoids are very similar.
- They only have one cell.
- There are two propellers on them. The flagella of one animal is longer than the other.
- Their colors are like those of plants. Chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoids are their colors. But when they grow in the dark, some eggs that can make their own food lose chlorophyll. They change into heterotrophs and eat biological matter. Other kinds of eggs are always white and feed on different things.
- For example Euglena. Euglena has a special developmental importance. They look like plants and green algae because their colors are the same. They are like animal flagellates, which are called protozoa. People think that Eusealina was the first plant or animal.
Dino-flagellates
- They are the most odd living things because their shapes are different.
- Most flag carriers are unicellular.
- Most of the time, shells cover their cells. The shell is made of cellulose plates that fit together. On these boards are also some silicates.
- There are two propellers on them.
- Their colors come from carotene, fucoxanthin, chlorophyll a, and chlorophyll c.
- In terms of coastal environments, they are one of the most important types of plants that make food.
- Sometimes dinosaurs burst or bloom. These flowers change the color of water to red, orange, or brown. So they also called them “red tides.”
- For example goniallax, cerium.
Diatoms
- They usually only had one cell.
- He doesn’t move at all.
- Their colors come from carotene, fucoxanthin, chlorophyll a, and chlorophyll c.
- Each diatom’s cell wall has two circles. These shells touch each other and bunch up. They remind me of Petri dishes. Silicon dioxide, which looks like glass, also builds up in the shell. A complicated pattern made of things like glass.
- There are a lot of diatoms in the environment of water. So, they are the main things that make up watery (sea and river) environments. Diatoms are a very important part of the food chain in the water.
- For example: Diatom, lasagna, Pinnularia.
Brown Algae
- There are big Protista giants in brown algae.
- All brown algae are multiple.
- They are between a few centimeters and 75 meters long. Kelp is the biggest brown algae. Kelp has a tough, leathery look. They have leaves that look like leaves, stems that look like stems, and roots that look like roots.
- Their germ cells have two flagella, but they don’t move.
- Their colors come from carotene, fucoxanthin, chlorophyll a, and chlorophyll c.
- Most brown algae live in cooler waters, especially in the intertidal zone along long coasts.
- Examples: Focus, giant cell hypertrophy. Kelp is the biggest brown algae.
Red Algae
- They don’t just have one cell.
- The fibers that make up their bodies are carefully sewn together. These are thin and light lines. Some red algae made up of flat sheets of cells.
- Nothing is done by them. Most complicated algae stick to rocks or other things because of the matrix.
- The pigments that give them their colors are called chlorophyll a, carotene, and red phycoerythrin.
- Some red algae in the seas make their cell walls out of calcium carbonate. He worked with the animals that live there to build coral islands.
- Examples: Chondrus, Polysiphonia.
Green Algae
- They are unicellular, invaded, or multiple.
- Chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and carotenoids are the parts of green algae that make it green. The chloroplast contains these colors.
- Most green bacteria contain flagella.
- Green algae have cellulose in the walls of their cells.
- Chlorella is like many other plants in some ways. They both have colors, waste products, and cell walls that are similar. Most people think that the plants developed from green algae because of how much they look alike. This idea is also backed up by the RNA sequencing of plants and green algae. This shows that green algae and plants come from the same ancestor.
- Examples are Chlamydomonas (unicellular algae), Desmids, Volvox (colonized algae), Spirulina (filamentous algae) Ulva (flaky multicellular bodies) and Chlorella.
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