Algae

GENERAL CHARACTERSTICS OF ALGAE

 Algae are the multicellular plants. Some are unicellular eg. Chlamydomonas

Pant body: known as Thallus and they are avascular
 Habitat: Algae are usually aquatic, either freshwater or marine and some are
terresterial.
Algae are eukaryotic thallophytes.
 Algae are photoautotrophs.
 Storage form of food: Starch
 Reproduction: Algae reproduce either by vegetative, asexual or sexual
method
 Vevetative method: fragmentation, hormogonia
 Asexual spore: zoospores, aplanospores, hypnospores, akinetes, azygospore
 Sexual method:  isogamous, anisogamous, and oogamous gametic fusion

FRITCH CLASSIFICATION OF ALGAE

Many algologists gave classification of algae but most authentic and

comprehensive classification was proposed by F. E. Fritsch (1935) who published
his voluminous work in the form of a book entitled “Structure and Reproduction of
Algae” in two volumes. He classified algae into 11 classes. These are-

 Chlorophyceae (green algae)

 Xanthophyceae (Yellow-green algae)
 Chrysophyceae
 Bacillariophyceae (Diatoms)
 Cryptophyceae
 Dinophyceae (Dinoflagellates)
 Chloromonadineae
 Euglenophyceae
 Phaeophyceae (Brown algae)
 Rhodophyceae ( Red algae)
 Myxophyceae (blue green algae)

1..Chlorophyceae :
 Fresh water, marine and terrestrial
 unicellular motile forms,colonial,nonmotila thalli as well as filamentous thallus.
 Dominant pigment chl a and b alogwith carotenoids
 Reserve food starch but oil in perennating structures.
 Motile cells with equal flagella of same length
 Sexual rep iso to oogamous
 Meiosis usually zygotic

2..Xanthophyceae
 Freshwater or terrestrial
 Dominant pigments chl a and e and βcarotene and a special xanthophyll
 Reserve food oil and leucosin
 Motile cells with unequal flag. of diff types
 Sex rep predominantly iso rarely oogamous
 L.C. haplontic with zygotic meiosis

3..Chrysophyceae-
 Mostly freshwater sometimes marine .
 Chl a and c and an excess of phycochrysin (yellow orange) pigments )
 Reserve food oil and leucosin
 Sex rep rare, when present isogamous
 Motile cells have 1 or2 flagella of equal or rarely unequal length

4..Bacillariophyceae –
 Freshwater as well as marine -Cell wall silicaceous with two halves
 Chl a and c, β- carotene ,and xanthophylls ( lutein and fucoxathin)
 Reserve food oil, chrysolaminarin and a prot. reserve food- volutin
 Motile stages with 1 or 2 tinsel flagella
 Meiosis gametogenic
 Sex rep isogamous with the formation of special spores ( auxospores. )
 Life cycle monogenic and diplontic

5..Cryptophyceae –
 Found in cold and subsurface of freshwater as well as marine habitat
 Pigment chl a,c, β - carotene, xanthophyll, phycocyanin and phycoerythrin but these are
different from those of cyanophyceae
 Reserve food starch ,pyrenoid present
 Mostly motile with unequal flagella
 Sexual reproduction isogamous..

6..Dinophyceae-
 Freshwater as well as marine and unicellular, motile biflagellate forms.
 Pigments chlorophyll a and c, βcarotene, phycoerythrin, red peridinin
 Reserve food starch and fat.
 Sexual rep rare, when present isogamous.

7..Chloromonadineae-
 Simple freshwater forms
 Bright green due to an excess of chlorophylls and xanthophylls.
 Reserve food fat
 Rep by longitudinal div.

8.. Euglenineae-
 Found in freshwater as well saline habitat
 Unicellular motile forms with one or two flagella
 Cell wall absent , pellicle present.
 Pigments chl a and b
 Rep by fission.

9..Phaeophyceae –
 Mostly marine.
 Simplest thallus organization is heterotrichous filamantous thallus.
 Higher forms are large bulky parenchymatous thalli which may attain a length of several
meters.
 Chromatophores have chl a and c, β-carotene, fucoxanthin.
 Reserve food laminarin and mannitol
 Motile rep structures with two laterally inserted flag. of unequal length and type
 Sexual rep. -- isogamy to oogamy .
 L.C. digenic with isomorphic or hetermorphic alternation of generations. or
monogenic(diplontic) eg members of order fucales .

10..Rhodophyceae –
 Majority are marine with a few exceptions.
 Pigments are chl a, d, β- carotene, rPhycocyanin and r-phycoerythrin.
 Reserve food is floridean starch.
 Presence of pit connections common. Motile stages completely absent in the life cycle and
the male gamete is known as spermatium.
 Sexual rep oogamous, female sex organ
 carpogonium and male sex organ spermatangium.The zygote never released from
carpogonium.
 Formation of a fruiting body
  the carposporophyte ,as a result of postfertilisation changes.
 Meiosis sporogenic and zygotic
 L.C. trigenic.

11..Myxophyceae
 Freshwater, terrestrial , epiphytic, endophytic and symbiotic.
 Main pigments chl a, β-carotene, xanthophylls, c-phycocyanin and cphycoerythrin,
allophycocyanin.
 Reserve food glycogen, cyanophycean starch, metachromatin granules .
 Conventional sexual rep absent.

HABITAT
Types of algal habitat
Algae are found everywhere on the earth, in air, water, and soil. Three
types of algae can be found based on their habitat.

 Aquatic algae 
 Algae as unusual habitats 
 Terrestrial algae
Terrestrial algae
Terrestrial algae are also known as edaphophytes. The edaphophytes are found
upon or inside of the earth. They occur on moist soil as a part of soil flora, and also
on barks of trees, on damp wood, on rocks and cliffs, etc. They are two
types- Saphophytes and Cryptophytes.

Saphophytes

Saphophytes are surface algae found on soil. Fritschiella, Botrydium, and

Vaucheria of Myxophyceae are found as saphophytes and they occur upon the
surface of the soil. 

Cryptophytes

Cryptophytes are subterranean blue-green algae found inside the soil. 

Subterranean blue green algae are Anabaena and Nostoc.

Aquatic algae
They are found in all types of water. Algae can be growing even in small trenches,
ponds big rivers, and oceans. Aquatic algae can be grouped into the following three
sub-groups:

 Freshwater algae
 Saltwater algae
 Marine algae 

Freshwater habitat of algae

A large number of algae are found in freshwater. They can be divided into
types- Still or stagnant water forms and Running water forms.

Still or stagnant water forms

Mostly, members of myxophyceae and Chlorophyceae develop in stagnant water.

Common examples of them are Zygnema and Oedogonium. 

Chara is found at the bottom of shallow ponds and lakes. While Rivularia and
Gleotrichia are common examples of myxophyceae growing in such habitats.

Running freshwater forms

Some algae are found in running water. In such habitats, the quality of water
contains a higher amount of oxygen. 

Common examples are Chladophora, Ulothrix, Vaucheria, Batrachospermum, etc. 

Saltwater habitat of algae

In the water of saltish lakes, Hydrodictyon and Chlamydomonas, etc. are found.
These algae forms are called halophytes. 

Marine algae

The algae are found in the sea. Such algae are never found in freshwater. Members
of Rhodophyceae and Phaeophyceae mostly occur as marine algae, e.g.
Ectocarpus, Polysiphonia, Fucus, Caulerpa, etc. Several members of the order
Siphonales also inhabit seawater.
Algae as of unusual habitats
Several algae are found in variable unusual habitats. They can be grouped as
follows:

 Snow algae or cryophytes 

 Thermal algae 
 Halophytic algae 
 Lithophytic algae
 Epiphytic algae
 Aerophytic algae 
 Symbiotic algae 
 Parasitic algae

 Cryophytes Algae

Which grows on the peak of mountains and snow-covered rocks, algae can
develop, but some species of algae grow on ice and snow.

Example :   Gleocapsa and Phormidium.

Thermal algae

In Yellowstone National Park of America, even at the temperature of 85°C algae

members are present, commonly the plants do not grow at such high temperatures

Examples : Mastigocladus and species of Phormidium.

Halophytic algae

Some algae members of Myxophyceae such as Dunaliella and Stephoenoptera can

be found in highly saltwater. Chlamydomonas chrenbegii is found growing in the
slatish water of lakes Sambhar and Crimera.

Example: Chlamydomonas and ulothrix

Lithophytic algae
These algal forms remain closely attached to stones and rocks. Commonly,
members of the Myxophyceae like Rivularia and Gleocapsa are found growing on
rocks.

Examples : ferns, algae and liverworts.

Epiphytic algae

Some species of algae live on other plants – these are known as epiphytes

Examples : Ulothrix, Oedogonium

Symbiotic algae

Some algal species which grows in association with dismilar organisms

Example: a lichen is a symbiotic association between fungi and green (and

occasionally blue-green) algae

Parasitic algae

Algae which grows on leves of angiosperms ( Dependent organism )

Examples : Polysiphonia, Fastigata ( Red Algae)

Several members(red algae) of the Rhodophyceae, those algal forms which live
inside various types of plants and animals, are called endobiotics, and, from the
point of view of convenience, they can be divided into endophytic and endozoic.

 Endophytic: They are found in various plant parts, such as Nostoc in

Anthoceros’ thallus, Anabaena in Cycas’ coralloid root, and Azolla’s leaves.
 Endozoic: Algae found inside the body of animals are endozoic algae .
Ex : Zoo chlorella is found in Hydra and sponges.

Thallus organisation in Algae

 Algae are plants of simple structures .

  There exist a wide variety of thalli in algae, particularly in the vegetative
plant body.

 The different forms show a definite range.

The range of thallus is from the simplest, which consists of non-motile single-
celled to filamentous forms with no well-organized nucleus and plastids.

 There exist many unicellular motile forms which may be solitary or colonial.

 Some are filamentous and have two variants: unbranched and branched.

 Some of the plants have considered a differentiation of tissues very similar

to higher plants, but they lack vascular tissues. 

Range of thallus organisation in algae

In general, the varied form of the algal thallus(plant body) may be outlined as
follows:

1. Unicellular  

a. Unicellular motile

 i. Rhizopodial
 ii. Flagellated type 
b. Unicellular non-motile

 i. Coccoid type 
 ii. Spiral type 
2. Multicellular

a. Colonial

 i. Coenobial
 Motile coenobial 
 Non-motile coenobial 
 ii. Aggregated forms
 Palmelloid 
 Dendroid 
  Rhizopodial colony
b. Filamentous forms

 i. Unbranched 
 Free-floating 
 Attached to the substratum 
 Colonial unbranched 
 ii. Branched 
 Falsely branched 
 Truly branched
 Simple truly branched
 Heterotrichous truly branched
 Pseudoparenchymatous
 Uniaxial 
 Multiaxial 
c. Siphonaceous 

d. Parenchymatous

Unicellular form of thallus organisation in algae

 This type of algal plant body consists of a single cell.

 The organisms are rounded, pear-shaped, oblong-shaped, or spherical in

structure.

 Some unicellular algae are motile, while others are non-motile. 

The unicellular algae are two types- unicellular motile and unicellular non-

motile.

Unicellular motile forms

These are motile forms of unicellular algae. The thalli contain either flagella or
rhizopodia and pseudopodia for locomotion.

 The unicellular motile forms are categorized into two

types: flagellated unicellular motile and rhizopodial unicellular
motile.

1. Rhizopodial unicellular motile form

  The rhizopodial unicellular thalli have a naked protoplast without a
rigid cell wall.

 The plant body contains cytoplasmic projections called Pseudopodia

and Rhizopodia and flagella are completely absent.

 The organisms show ameboid movement for their locomotion.

Examples of rhizopodial forms are : Rhizochloris of Xanthophyceae and

Chrysamoeba of Chrysophyceae.

2. Flagellated unicellular motile form

Unicellular motile forms are found in major groups except for Phaeophyceae,
Rhodophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, and Myxophyceae. The distinguishing features
are the presence of a unicellular plant body bearing means of motile, i.e, flagella.
The thallus is a rounded, pear-shaped, or oblong-shaped form bearing two motile
flagella at the anterior region.

The most common example : is Chlamydomonas, in which the biflagellate plant

body is surrounded by a definite cell wall.

Both flagella may be equal in Chlorophyceae or unequal in Xanthophyceae or

Dinophyceae. The number of flagella may be one as in some Chrysophyceae, to
four as in some Chlorophyceae.

Examples: of unicellular motile algae are Euglena (Euglenineae), Cryptomonas

(Cryptophyceae), Heterochloris (Xanthophyceae), Chlamydomonas and
Chlorogonium of Chlorophyceae, etc.

Unicellular non-motile forms

These are non-motile forms of unicellular algae without having flagella or any
other locomotory organs.

The unicellular non-motile forms are divided into two types:

 coccoid form 

  spiral form.
1. Coccoid form

The cells(plant body) are commonly small, more or less spherical without flagella,
and do not exhibit any movement.

There are also slightly elongated forms that can be differentiated by base and apex.

Unicellular non-motile thalli are found in many algal groups. Some examples of
unicellular non-motile forms are Chlorococcum and Chlorella of Chlorophyceae,
Porphyridium of Rhodophyceae, Characiopsis of Xanthophyceae, Gloeocapsa and
Chamaesiphon of Cyanophyceae.

2. Spiral form

These unicellular non-motile forms are filamentous algae with spiral plant bodies.

A common example of a spiral unicellular non-motile form is Spirulina.

Multicellular form of thallus organisation in algae

This type of algal thallus is formed by multi cells or aggregated unicellular algae.

The multicellular form of algae is four types:

  Colonial,

  Filamentous

  Siphonaceous,

  Parenchymatous.
Colonial forms

The colonial thallus is the unicellular form of algae which may be compact or
loosely arranged and form a colony-like structure.

There are two types ,

 Coenobium forms

  Aggregated forms.

1. Coenobial forms

The coenobial colony is composed of a definite number of cells arranged in a

specific manner.

The coenobium colonial forms are two types-

 motile with flagella present

 non-motile without flagella.

II. Motile coenobial
Definite members of motile cells are embedded in a gelatinous matrix with their
flagella protruded out, sometimes are held together by cytoplasmic connections.

The cells may be compact or loosely arranged, thus a colony is formed of a definite
number of cells arranged in a specific manner which is known as coenobium.

Figure: Motile coenobial form in Volvox

Some examples of coenobial forms are : Volvox, Eudorina, Pandrina of
Chlorophyceae, Ceratium, Gonyaulax of Dinophyceae, Chlorodesmuus of
Chrysophyceae.

II. Non-motile coenobial
Coenobial may be composed of non-motile cells arranged in a single layer being
closely depressed to each other along the long axis or may be attached end to end
forming a pentagonal or hexagonal mesh of a net.

The coenobium may also be star-shaped in appearance with a single central cell
surrounded by peripheral cells of the coenobium.

The best-known example of non-flagellated multicellular coenobium form is

Hydrodicton, in which the cells of the net remain connected in the form of groups
of 5 or 6 forming pentagonal or hexagonal structures.

Figure: Non-motile coenobial form in Hydrodictyon

This habit is seen mainly in Chlorophyceae. Some other examples are Coelastrum,
Scenedesmus, Pediastrum, etc.

2. Aggregated forms

The aggregated thalli are formed by irregularly aggregated cells and are of various
sizes and shapes.

Aggregated forms are divided into three types-

 Palmelloid

  Dendroid
   Rhizopodial colony.

I. Palmelloid type
It is a temporary stage formed in the alga Chlamydomonas and Chromulina of
Chlorophyceae under unfavorable conditions.

The palmelloid habit is also noted in Aphanothece of Cyanophyceae. 

III. Dendroid type
Dendroid means tree-like. In Prasinocladus, Ecballocystis, etc., the plant body
looks like a microscopic tree.

Figure: Dendroid habit of Prasinocladus

The mucilage is restricted in such cases usually at the base of the cells. Here the
cells of the thallus are attached to each other like branching by mucilage.

III. Rhizopodial colony
This type of multicellular form is found in Chrysidiastrum of Chrysophyceae.

In the Chrysidiastrum thallus, the cells are united by rhizopodia to form a colony.

Filamentous forms

In this type, the cells are arranged in a row or in several rows to make the thallus
filamentous or thread-like in appearance. A filamentous plant body is formed when
cells are repeatedly divided in the same plane and direction
Branched or Unbranched.

1. Unbranched filaments

The filaments are not branched and are free-floating or attached to the substratum.

 The unbranched filamentous forms are of three types:



 Free-floating

 , Attached to the substratum,

  Colonial unbranched.

I. Free-floating
The free-floating unbranched filamentous form is found in Spirogyra of
Chlorophyceae.

In this case, the filaments are not differentiated into basal and apical ends.

II. Attached to the substratum

These types of filaments are most common in Ulothrix and Oedogonium.

The unbranched filaments which remain attached to the substratum are

differentiated into base and apex.

III. Colonial unbranched
This type of unbranched form is found in Nostoc of Cyanophyceae. 

In Nostoc thallus, the filaments are aggregated to form a colony.

2. Branched filaments

A branched filament is formed when a filament occasionally starts division in a

second plane.

They are three types:

  Falsely branched,

 Truly branched,

 Pseudoparenchymatous.

I. Falsely branched
The trichome (a single row of cells) is generally fragmented due to the
degeneration of an intercalary cell, following which one or both of the intercalary
cell’s ends adjacent to the dead cell grow out of the parent sheath, giving the
resemblance of branching.

False branching is seen in Scytonema of Cyanophyceae.

II. Truly branched
True branching occurs when there are repeated transverse divisions on the lateral
axis of the thallus.

The truly branched filamentous forms are two types: 

 Simple truly branched 

  Heterotrichous truly branched.

a. Simple truly branched

This type of filament is observed in Cladophora. In the Cladophora filament, the
whole thallus is attached to the substratum (ceil, holdfast, or hapteron) with the
help of a basal cell.

Simple truly branched filaments are also found in Xanthophyceae and

Chrysophyceae.

b. Heterotrichous truly branched

In the heterotrichous filament, the whole plant body is differentiated into well-
developed prostrate and erect systems.

This most highly evolved type of plant body is found in Chlorophyceae (e.g.,
Fritschiella, Stigeoclonium), Phaeophyceae (e.g., Ectocarpus), Rhodophyceae (e.g.,
Erythrotrichia), and some Chrysophyceae and Dinophyceae (e.g., Dinoclonium).
III. Pseudoparenchymatous forms
When one or more central or axial filaments come together with its branch fuses
and form a parenchymatous structure, it’s called pseudoparenchymatous thallus.

The pseudoparenchymatous form is a secondary development, the close

association of cells is a result of the interweaving of filaments.

There are two types of pseudoparenchymatous thallus:

 Uniaxial type

 Multiaxial type.

a. Uniaxial type
In the uniaxial type, the thallus shows clearly the parencymatous nature in which
there is one main axis and all the others are siding branches.

Uniaxial pseudoparenchymatous types are seen in Batrachospermum,

Spermatochnus (Phaeophyceae), and Polysiphonia (Rhodophyceae).

b. Multiaxial type
The multiaxial type is seen in Chondrus, Scinaia, etc.

In this type, the plant body contains more than one axis. These axes (central and
lateral) form a compact cortex.

Siphonaceous forms
In siphonaceous form, the plant body consists of a long, hollow tube-like
multinucleate structure called a coenocyte. The growth of the thallus (coenocytic
filament) takes place without the usual cross-wall formation and it contains a
central vacuole with chloroplasts and nuclei in the peripheral cytoplasm.

The siphonaceous forms are observed in the order siphonales (e.g., Vaucheria,
Botrydium). 

Parenchymatous forms
The parenchymatous form of the plant body is a modification of the filamentous
habit. The formation of a parenchymatous thallus occurs when cells of the primary
filament divide into two or more planes.
The parenchymatous organization may be foliose (e.g., Ulva), tubular (e.g.,
Enteromorpha), or highly developed structure (e.g., Chara, Fucus, Laminaria,
etc.).