Algae

For the programming language, see algae programming language.

Algae (singular alga) encompass several different groups of living organisms that capture light energy through photosynthesis, converting inorganic substances into simple sugars using the captured energy. Algae have been traditionally regarded as simple plants, and indeed some are closely related to the higher plants. Others appear to represent different protist groups, alongside other organisms that are traditionally considered more animal-like (that is, protozoa). Thus algae do not represent a single evolutionary direction or line, but a level of organization that may have developed several times in the early history of life on earth.

Algae range from single-celled organisms to multi-cellular organisms, some with fairly complex differentiated form and (if marine) called seaweeds. All lack leaves, roots, flowers, and other organ structures that characterize higher plants. They are distinguished from other protozoa in that they are photoautotrophic, although this is not a hard and fast distinction as some groups contain members that are mixotrophic, deriving energy both from photosynthesis and uptake of organic carbon either by osmotrophy, myzotrophy, or phagotrophy. Some unicellular species rely entirely on external energy sources and have reduced or lost their photosynthetic apparatus.

All algae have photosynthetic machinery ultimately derived from the cyanobacteria, and so produce oxygen as a by-product of photosynthesis, unlike non-cyanobacterial photosynthetic bacteria. It is estimated that algae produce about 73 to 87 percent of the net global production of oxygen--which is available to humans and other terrestrial animals for respiration.

Algae are usually found in damp places or bodies of water and thus are common in terrestrial as well as aquatic environments. However, terrestrial algae are usually rather inconspicuous and far more common in moist, tropical regions than dry ones, because algae lack vascular tissues and other adaptions to live on land. Algae can endure dryness and other conditions in symbiosis with a fungus as lichen.

The various sorts of algae play significant roles in aquatic ecology. Microscopic forms that live suspended in the water column — called phytoplankton — provide the food base for most marine food chains. In very high densities (so-called algal blooms) these algae may discolor the water and outcompete or poison other life forms. Seaweeds grow mostly in shallow marine waters. Some are used as human food or harvested for useful substances such as agar or fertilizer. The study of algae is called phycology or algology.

Relationships among algal groups

Prokaryotic algae

Traditionally the cyanobacteria have been included among the algae, referred to as the cyanophytes or Blue-green Algae, (the term "algae" refers to any aquatic organisms capable of photosynthesis), ^* though some recent treatises on algae specifically exclude them. Cyanobacteria are some of the oldest organisms to appear in the fossil record, dating back about 3.8 billion years (Precambrian). Ancient cyanobacteria likely produced much of the oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.

Cyanobacteria can be unicellular, colonial, or filamentous. They have a prokaryotic cell structure typical of bacteria and conduct photosynthesis directly within the cytoplasm, rather than in specialized organelles. Some filamentous blue-green algae have specialized cells, termed heterocysts, in which nitrogen fixation occurs. ^*

Eukaryotic algae

All other algae are eukaryotes and conduct photosynthesis within membrane-bound structures (organelles) called chloroplasts. Chloroplasts contain DNA and are similar in structure to cyanobacteria, presumably representing reduced cyanobacterial endosymbionts. The exact nature of the chloroplasts is different among the different lines of algae, reflecting different endosymbiotic events. There are three groups (Archaeplastida) that have primary chloroplasts:

Green algae, together with higher plants
Red algae
Glaucophytes

In these groups, the chloroplast is surrounded by two membranes and probably developed through a single endosymbiosis. The chloroplasts of red algae have a more or less typical cyanobacterial pigmentation, while those of the green alga have chloroplasts with chlorophyll a and b, the latter found in some cyanobacteria and not most. Higher plants are pigmented similarly to green algae and probably developed from them.

Two other groups of algae have green chloroplasts containing chlorophyll b:

Euglenids and
Chlorarachniophytes.

These are surrounded by three and four membranes, respectively, and were probably retained from an ingested green alga. Those of the chlorarchniophytes contain a small nucleomorph, which is the remnant of the alga's nucleus. It has been suggested that the euglenid chloroplasts only have three membranes because they were acquired through myzocytosis rather than phagocytosis.

The remaining algae all have chloroplasts containing chlorophylls a and c. The latter chlorophyll type is not known from any prokaryotes or primary chloroplasts, but genetic similarities with the red algae suggest a relationship there. These groups include:

Heterokonts (e.g., golden algae, diatoms, brown algae)
Haptophytes (e.g., coccolithophores)
Cryptomonads
Dinoflagellates

In the first three of these groups (Chromista), the chloroplast has four membranes, retaining a nucleomorph in cryptomonads, and they likely share a common pigmented ancestor. The typical dinoflagellate chloroplast has three membranes, but there is considerable diversity in chloroplasts among the group, as some members have acquired theirs from different sources. The Apicomplexa, a group of closely related parasites, also have plastids though not actual chloroplasts, which appear to have a common origin with those of the dinoflagellates.

Note many of these groups contain some members that are no longer photosynthetic. Some retain plastids, but not chloroplasts, while others have lost them entirely.

Forms of algae

Most of the simpler algae are unicellular flagellates or amoeboids, but colonial and non-motile forms have developed independently among several of the groups. Some of the more common organizational levels, more than one of which may occur in the life cycle of a species, are:

Colonial - small, regular groups of motile cells
Capsoid - individual non-motile cells embedded in mucilage
Coccoid - individual non-motile cells with cell walls
Palmelloid - non-motile cells embedded in mucilage
Filamentous - a string of non-motile cells connected together, sometimes branching
Parenchymatous - cells forming a thallus with partial differentiation of tissues

In three lines even higher levels of organization have been reached, leading to organisms with full tissue differentiation. These are the brown algae — some of which may reach 70 m in length (kelps) — the red algae, and the green algae. The most complex forms are found among the green algae (see Charales), in a lineage that eventually led to the higher land plants. The point where these non-algal plants begin and algae stop is usually taken to be the presence of reproductive organs with protective cell layers, a characteristic not found in the other alga groups.

Algae and symbioses

Some species of algae form symbiotic relationships with other organisms. In these symbioses, the algae supply photosynthates (organic substances) to the host organism providing protection to the algal cells. The host organism derives some or all of its energy requirements from the alga. Examples include:

lichens - a fungus is the host, usually with a green alga or a cyanobacterium as its symbiont. Both fungal and algal species found in lichens are capable of living independently, although habitat requirements may be greatly different from those of the lichen pair.
corals - algae known as zooxanthellae are symbionts with corals. Notable amongst these is the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium, found in many hard corals. The loss of Symbiodinium, or other zooxanthellae, from the host is known as coral bleaching.
sponges - green algae live close to the surface of some sponges, for example, breadcrumb sponge (Halichondria panicea). The alga is thus protected from predators; the sponge is provided with oxygen and sugars which can account for 50 to 80% of sponge growth in some species ^* (.PDF file).

Uses of algae

Algae are used by man in a great many ways. Because many species are aquatic and microscopic, they are cultured in clear tanks or ponds and either harvested or used to treat effluents pumped through the ponds. Algaculture on a large scale is an important type of aquaculture in some places.

Energy source

Algae can be used to produce biodiesel (see algaculture), and by some estimates can produce vastly superior amounts of oil, compared to terrestrial crops grown for the same purpose. Because algae grown to produce biodiesel does not need to meet the requirements of a food crop, it is much cheaper to produce. Also it does not need fresh water or fertilizer (both of which are quite expensive).
Algae can be grown to produce hydrogen. In 1939 a German researcher named Hans Gaffron, while working at the University of Chicago, observed that the algae he was studying, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (a green-algae), would sometimes switch from the production of oxygen to the production of hydrogen.Gaffron never discovered the cause for this change and for many years other scientists failed in their attempts at its discovery. In the late 1990s professor Anastasios Melis a researcher at the University of California at Berkeley discovered that if the algae culture medium is deprived of sulfur it will switch from the production of oxygen (normal photosynthesis), to the production of hydrogen. He found that the enzyme responsible for this reaction is hydrogenase, but that the hydrogenase lost this function in the presence of oxygen. Melis found that depleting the amount of sulfur available to the algae interrupted its internal oxygen flow, allowing the hydrogenase an environment in which it can react, causing the algae to produce hydrogen. [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.04/mustread.html?pg=5 Chlamydomonas moeweesi is also a good strain for the production of hydrogen.
Algae can be grown to produce biomass, which can be burned to produce heat and electricity. ^*

Pollution control

Algae are used in wastewater treatment facilities, reducing the need for more dangerous chemicals.
Algae can be used to capture fertilizers in runoff from farms. If this algae is then harvested, it itself can be used as fertilizer.
Algae bioreactors are used by some powerplants to reduce CO2 emissions. The CO2 can be pumped into a pond, or some kind of tank, on which the algae feed. Alternatively, the bioreactor can be installed directly on top of a smokestack. This techology has been pioneered by Massachusetts-based GreenFuelTechnologies.[http://www.greenfuelonline.com/.

Nutritional value of algae

Algae is commercially cultivated as a nutritional supplement. One of the most popular microalgal species is Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis), which is a Cyanobacteria (known as blue-green algae), and has been hailed by some as a superfood. ^* Other algal species cultivated for their nutritional value include; Chlorella (a green algae), and Dunaliella (Dunaliella salina), which is high in beta-carotene and is used in vitamin C supplements.
Algae is sometimes also used as a food, as in the Chinese "vegetable" known as fat choy (which is actually a cyanobacterium).
The oil from some algae have high levels of unsaturated fatty acids. Arachidonic acid(a polyunsaturated fatty acid), is very high in parietochloris incisa, (a green algae) where it reaches up to 47% of the triglyceride pool (Bigogno C et al. Phytochemistry 2002, 60, 497). [http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~rdb/opa-g137.html

The natural pigments produced by algae can be used as an alternative to chemical dyes and coloring agents. ^* Many of the paper products used today are not recyclable because of the chemical inks that they use, paper recyclers have found that inks made from algae are much easier to break down. There is also much interest in the food industry into replacing the coloring agents that are currently used with coloring derived from algal pigments.

Examples

Codium; Charales (green algae).

Fucus; Ascophyllum nodosum; Laminaria; Pelvetia canaliculata (brown algae).

Lemanea; Palmaria palmata (red algae).

External links

www.phyco.org; a wiki-based site that is focused on energy production from algae.
biodieselnow.com biodiesel production-biodiesel from algae
www.algaebase.org
Australian freshwater algae - Sydney Botanic Gardens
Learn about Algae & Algal Blooms - Rural Chemical Industries (Aust.) Pty Ltd.
Harmful Algal Blooms - "Red tide" - National Office for Marine Biotoxins and Harmful Algal Blooms, USA.
Algae Section, National Museum of Natural History - Smithsonian Institution
www.plantphysiol.org
Cyanosite
Algae Growth
Blanket Weed

Algae | Botany

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