2.

4 Algae

General introduction and characteristic feature of green, brown and red algae; structure and reproduction
of Spirogyra. Economic importance of algae

The term 'algae' has been derived from a Latin word alga meaning seaweed. Algae are simple chlorophyll
bearing organisms. They are aquatic, both marine and fresh water, and occur on land with soil and on moist
rocks and wood.

Algae are highly diverse with respect to habitat. Some species float or swim and others are attached to the
substratum or weeds in water. The science that deals with the study of algae is known as phycology and
those who pursue such a study are called phycologists. The chief characteristics of algae are as follows:

1. The members of algae are worldwide in distribution. They mostly grow in water and moist soil.

2. The algae show variation in their size from a microscopic and unicellular to multicellular simple floating
colonial or aggregate of cells or filamentous forms or sheet type.

3. The conducting and mechanical tissues are absent in all form of the algae.

4. The reserve food material is starch.

5. The algae are able to synthesize their food from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight.

6. They all have their cell walls, made of cellulose.

7. They contain chlorophyll in the form of chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, xanthophyll, phycobilin and a small
amount of carotenoids in the chloroplasts.

8. They are reproduced by vegetative, asexual and sexual methods.

9. Vegetative reproduction takes place by fragmentation, hormogonia, tubers, budding etc.

10. Asexual reproduction takes place by zoospores, akinetes, aplanospores etc.

Spirogyra, Ulothrix, Chlorella, Laminaria, Fucus, Chlamydomonas, Volvox etc.

1. Chlorophyceae (Green Algae)

General characteristics

1. Most of the green algae are fresh water and a few are marine.

2. Plant body is thalloid and gametophyte which is varied from unicellular to filamentous.

3. Vascular and mechanical tissues are absent. Cell structure is eukaryotic type. Cell wall – cellulose.

4. The members of green algae are grass green in color. The main photosynthetic pigments are chlorophyll-
a and chlorophyll-b and small amounts of carotenes and xanthophyll.

5. Reserve food is starch. The chloroplasts normally contain the pyrenoids to store starch.

6. Green algae are reproduced by vegetative, asexual and sexual methods. The

7. Sexual reproduction varies from isogamous (e.g., Chlamydomonas), anisogamous (e.g., Chlamydomonas
braunii) & oogamous (e.g., Vaucheria).

Spirogyra, Volvox, Ulothrix, Chlamydomonas, Chlorella, Vaucheria etc.

2. Phaeophyceae (Brown Algae)

General characteristics:

1. Brown algae are found in marine water.

2. The plant body is branched filamentous in lower groups but parenchymatous in higher forms called sea-
kelps, e.g., Laminaria, Fucus, etc. The unicellular forms are unknown.

3. Their plant body is differentiated into flattened leaf-like blades, stem-like stipe and holdfast. They are
firmly attached to the substratum with the help of holdfast.

4. They contain chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-e, B-carotenes & xanthophyll (fucoxanthin & diatoxanthin).
Fucoxanthin is a golden-brown pigment that masks the green color of the chlorophyll -a and chlorophyll-c.

5. The photosynthetic product is D- mannitol (sugar alcohol) and reserve food is laminarin (polysaccharide)
and fat droplets.

6. Reproduction takes place by vegetative, asexual and sexual methods.

8. Sexual reproduction may be isogamous or anisogamous, or it may also be oogamous.

E.g., Sargassum, Fucus, Laminaria, Macrocystis, Ectocarus, etc.

3. Rhodophyceae (The Red Algae)

1. Majority of them are marine and a few are (about 200 species) fresh water. One of the most common
fresh water algae is Battrachospermum.

2. The red algae exhibit a wide range in their vegetative structure.

3. The conducting and mechanical tissues are absent.

4. The algae are able to synthesize their food from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight.

5. They all have their cell walls, made of cellulose.

6. The chromatophores contain chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-d, Phycobillins (r-phycoerythrin, e-

7. The varying amount of the pigments r-phycoerythrin and c-phycocyanin (phycobilin) imparts the red
brown or bluish colors to the plants.

8. The reserve food materials are polysaccharides, Floridian starch and a soluble sugar- the floridoside.

9. Reproduction takes place by vegetative, asexual and sexual means.

E.g., Gelidium, Porphyra, Chondrus, Harveyella etc.

SPIROGYRA

Class Chlorophyceae
Order Conjugales
Family Zygnemaceae
Genus Spirogyra
Spirogyra is a very common free floating filamentous fresh water alga growing abundantly in ponds, pools,
ditches, springs, lakes and slow running rivers and streams during spring season.

Vegetative structure
The plant body of spirogyra is a thallus which is multicellular, unbranched filamentous, silky thread like
structure. Each filament consists of many cylindrical cells, which are attached end to end by septa.
Spirogyra filaments develop basal cell that help in the attachment to the substratum is called hapteron or
holdfast. All the cells of filament are capable of division for growth.

Cell structure

Each cell of Spirogyra consists of a cell wall and a mass of protoplast. The cell wall is two-layered structure.
The outer layer is made up of pectin while the inner layer is of cellulose. The pectin when dissolved in
water forms a slimy mucilaginous sheath around the cells and filament. It makes the filament slippery to
touch. Hence, the spirogyra is free floating and looks like a mass of shining silky long filaments, called
pond silk or pond scum.

The protoplast contains cytoplasm and nucleus. The cytoplasm contains various cell organelles and large
central vacuole. The nucleus is usually situated in the center of the cell and is held in position by cytoplasmic
strands which join the cytoplasm.

The chloroplasts are spirally twisted or band-shaped with smooth, wavy or serrated margins. The name of
alga, the spirogyra is after the spiral arrangement of chloroplast. Each ribbon-like chloroplast contains
pyrenoids.

Reproduction - Spirogyra reproduces by vegetative, asexual and sexual methods.

1. Vegetative reproduction – takes place by fragmentation. The filament breaks at the cross walls into one
or more segments or fragments. Each fragment grows into new filament by repeated cell division and
growth.
2. Asexual reproduction - this reproduction takes place by akinetes & aplanospores.

a. Akinete:

During unfavorable conditions, the entire protoplast loses water and contracts. It rounds off and become
thick walled to form akinete. Akinete is thick walled, resting spores which contain abundant reserve food
material. With the return of favorable conditions, the akinetes germinates into new filament of Spirogyra.

b. Aplanospores: Aplanospores are thin-walled non-motile spores which develop singly inside the
vegetative cell due to the loss of water from the protoplast. They contract and rounds off and secretes a thin
wall around it. On return of favorable condition, the wall dissolves and produce new individual spirogyra
filament.

3. Sexual Reproduction

Sexual reproduction in Spirogyra occurs by conjugation and it is isogamous since there is no difference in
the shape of gametes. However, one of the gametes may be regarded as male for it migrates, while the other
may be regarded as a female since it remains stationary.

Conjugation is a process of fusion of two non-motile gametes one from the cell of male (+ve) strain and
other from the female (-ve) strain. It is occurred under favorable environmental conditions. The conjugation
in Spirogyra is of two types:

A. Scalariform conjugation B. Lateral conjugation

A. Scalariform conjugation

Scalariform conjugation is the most common method. At the time of conjugation, two filaments of different
strains come to lie in contact side-by-side. All the cells of both filaments produce small protuberances
facing each other called transverse tubes. These tubes connect the two filaments and assume a ladder like
appearance. The contact walls in between the transverse tube dissolve forming passage from the cells of
one filament to the other.
These tubular passages are called conjugation tubes. The cells of both filaments connected through
conjugation tubes are called gametangia. The conjugating cells form naked, non-motile and non-ciliated
gametes.

During fusion, the gamete of one filament passes through the conjugation tube and reaches the opposite
cell. The gamete that passes from the cell of one filament to the other is called male gamete, and the
stationary ones is called female gamete. These isogametes fuse together to form thick-walled spherical
zygospore. As a result, the zygospores are formed in a series in one filament and the cells of another filament
remains empty.

B. Lateral conjugation

In some species of Spirogyra, the lateral conjugation takes place between the adjacent cells of the same
filament. The lateral conjugation takes place in two ways.

(A) Indirect lateral conjugation: In some species of Spirogyra indirect lateral conjugation takes place
between the two adjacent cells of the same filament. It begins with the development of papillae on the
lateral sides of the septum. The common wall gets partially dissolved and forms a side passage or a lateral
conjugation tube. Of these, the upper cell functions as male gametangium whereas the lower one is female.
The protoplast of male gamete migrates into the female gamete through a lateral conjugation tube and gets
fused their contents to form a zygote. The zygote soon develops a thick wall around itself and forms
zygospore.
(B) Direct lateral conjugation: In certain species the direct lateral conjugation takes place in between the
two adjacent cells, of which the upper cell acts as male gametangium and the lower cell as female
gametangium. The protoplasm of the conjugating cells contracts to become gametes. The male gamete
passes into the female one through the pore without formation of conjugation tube. These two male and
female gametes fuse to form zygote. The zygote soon develops a thick wall around itself and forms
zygospore.

Germination of Zygospore

On return of favorable condition, the protoplast of haploid zygospore absorbs water and swells up. It breaks
the outer two walls and the inner grows out into a small cylindrical germ tube. The germs tube divides by
a transverse wall to form a two-celled germling. The upper cell divides and re-divides to produce a green
cellular filament. The lower cell is usually colorless and functions as a rhizoidal cell or holdfast. Soon the
filament is detached from the holdfast & floats in water.

Economic Importance of Algae

(1) Many seaweeds such as Laminaria japonica and L. religiosa contain a high parentage of iodine.
Thus, they are used as medicines directly in powdered form in the treatment of goiter Moreover,
tincture iodine is prepared from iodine extracted from Codium intricatum is a green alga.
(2) Extracts of Cladophora and Lyngbya possess antiviral properties and kill strains of certain bacteria
like Pseudomonas and Mycobacterium.
(3) Gelidium is used in the manufacture of agar. It is used in medicine as a laxative and in a culture
medium for the growth of bacteria. Agar is used in the manufacture of pills and ointments.
(4) The extracts of Digenea, Codium, Alsidium and Durvillea are effective vermifuge.
(5) The extracts of Corallina are used for the treatment of kidney, bladder and lung diseases.
(6) Corallina is capable of curing worm infections.
(7) Laminaria and Ascophyllum (marine brown algae) which possess the antibiotic properties.