Brown Algae (Phaeophyceae)- Habitat, Characteristics, Morphology, Importance

Brown Algae (Phaeophyceae)- Habitat, Characteristics, Morphology, Importance

Brown algae are the large group of mostly marine and multicellular algae. They are commonly called as brown seaweeds. They mostly grow in cold and shallow sea water, especially on rocky sea coast. They are known as Phaeophyceae. Their body is not differentiated into true root, stem and leaves. The plant body is called thallus. … Read more

Rhodophyta (Red Algae) – Characteristics, Morphology, Importance

Rhodophyceae (Red Algae) - General characteristics, Occurrence, Range of thallus organization, Cell structure and Reproduction

Rhodophyta are commonly called red algae. It is one of the oldest and large group of eukaryotic algae. Most of them are marine forms. Few species are also found in freshwater. The red colour is due to phycobilins. The main pigment is phycoerythrin. This pigment absorbs blue and green light. These lights can go deep … Read more

Algal Cultivation – Methods, Factors, Feature, Types, Uses

Algal Cultivation - Methods, Factors, Feature, Types, Uses

Algal cultivation is the process of growing microalgae. These are very small photosynthetic organisms. They use light, water and carbon dioxide. Then they grow and multiply. During this process algal cells produce many useful substances. Protein, lipid and carbohydrate are produced. These are stored in the algal biomass. Microalgae can be grown in freshwater. They … Read more

Economic Importance of Algae – Food Industry, Chemical Industry, Agriculture, Medicine

Economic Importance of Algae

Algae are economically very useful organisms. They are used in food, agriculture, medicine, industry and fuel production. They grow very fast. They can grow in sea water and waste water also. For this reason they are used as cheap biological material. Many algae are used as food. Spirulina and Chlorella are used as food supplement. … Read more

Algal Reproduction – Sexual, Asexual and Vegetative Methods

Algae Reproduction

Algae are simple, mostly aquatic and photosynthetic organisms. They are different from land plants because true root, stem and leaves are absent. Vascular tissues are also absent. The plant body of algae is simple. It is not differentiated into different plant parts. This type of body is called thallus. Algae show great variation in size … Read more

Algal Morphology – Size, Shape, Cellular Components and Structure

Cellular Structure of Algae

Algae are simple, mostly aquatic and photosynthetic organisms. They contain chlorophyll and prepare their own food. During photosynthesis oxygen is released by them. The plant body of algae is simple. It is not divided into true root, stem and leaves. Flowers are also absent. Such simple body is called thallus. Algae show much variation in … Read more

Algae – Characteristics, Structure, Classes, Reproduction, Importance

What is Algae

Algae are simple, chlorophyll bearing and photosynthetic organisms. They may be microscopic unicellular forms or large multicellular seaweeds. Phytoplankton are small algal forms and kelp is large seaweed form. The plant body of algae is not differentiated into true root, stem and leaves. Vascular tissues are also absent. The body is simple and thalloid. This … Read more

Chlamydomonas – Life Cycle, Habitat, Structure, Examples

Chlamydomonas Cell Structure

Chlamydomonas is a unicellular green algae, which belongs to the class Chlorophyceae. It is microscopic and mostly found in fresh water, stagnant pools, moist soil, sea water and snow also. Some species are present in mountain snow and they give red colour to snow, which is called watermelon snow. It is a simple motile algae. … Read more

Applied Phycology – Role of algae in the environment, agriculture, biotechnology and industry

Applied Phycology - Role of algae in the environment, agriculture, biotechnology and industry.

Phycology is the study of algae. It is also known as algology. It is a branch of biology and deals with different algal forms. In phycology, the structure, classification, physiology, ecology and distribution of algae are studied. It includes both small algae and large seaweeds. Cyanobacteria, microalgae, macroalgae and seaweeds are included in this study. … Read more