Algae are unicellular or multicellular:
They are multicellular i.e. Made of multiple cells. They prefer mostly aquatic habitats. Some common examples of protozoa are: Spirogyra, Ulothrix, Chlamydomonas
Structure of algae: Some algal cell join each other to form filaments and some have branches or fronds. Both unicellular and multicellular algae live as individual or in colonies. Algae is being found in different forms, Unicellular forms, Multicellular forms A colonial form- volvox.
Unicellular forms:Examples of unicellular Algae are as follows—
Chalamydomonas: It is a green single Cellular alga. They are generally oval, spherical or peared shape. Flagella is used for locomotion.
Habitat of algae: Algae live mostly in an aquatic environment floating on the water. Many times they are found in ponds, lakes and seawater. Some algae leave on bark of tree and some on moist soil and rocks. Some Algae are also found in snow and some in hot spring.
Mode of nutrition in Algae: Algae are considered autotrophs as all of them have chlorophyll in it. Most Algal groups are considered photoautotrophs, they depend entirely upon their photosynthetic Apparatus for their food production, using sunlight as a source of energy and CO2 as a source of carbon to produce their own food. Many of the algae have a symbiotic relationship with plants and animals.
Types of Algae
On the basis of the pigment found cell they are classified into following groups
Blue green Algae: They have blue pigment along with chlorophyll. Nucleus is not present in blue green algae. They are more like bacteria. And therefore they are called as Cyanobacteria. They live in freshwater.
Green algae: This contains mainly chlorophyll. They live in freshwater. Green algae (singular: green alga) are photosynthetic algae that are characterized by having chlorophylls a and b as the predominant pigments, thus rendering them green in colour. They store food as starch within plastids. They include the chlorophytes and the charophytes.
Brown algae: Contents brown pigment in addition to chlorophyll. Brown algae generally marine. Many seaweeds are brown algae, which are almost 50 to 60-meter long.
Red algae: Contains red pigments besides chlorophyll. Red algae are generally marine. Red algae, or Rhodophyta, are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta also comprises one of the largest phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 currently recognized species with taxonomic revisions ongoing.
Uses of Algae: Algae are the major source of food for fishes, prawns and many aquatic animals. Sea Algae is eaten in many countries. Most of the oxygen in the atmosphere is released by algae. Red algae yield algin, substance used to thicken cosmetics and food items like ice cream, jelly coma chocolates. Agar a solidifying substance obtained from red algae used in microbiological research. Algae also consumes huge amount of carbon dioxide which is good for our ecosystem.
Disadvantages of Algae
Algal blooms can be toxic and it harms aquatic ecosystem and human health.
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