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Algae

Algae. Biology 11 Mr. Wolfe. Contents of Algae Notes. Taxonomic Classification Morphology / Anatomy Life History / Life Cycle Morphogenesis / Growth Communities / Ecosystems Interactions / Symbiosis Photosynthesis Nutrient-Uptake Requirements Temperature and Salinity Water Motion

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Algae

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  1. Algae Biology 11 Mr. Wolfe

  2. Contents of Algae Notes • Taxonomic Classification • Morphology / Anatomy • Life History / Life Cycle • Morphogenesis / Growth • Communities / Ecosystems • Interactions / Symbiosis • Photosynthesis • Nutrient-Uptake Requirements • Temperature and Salinity • Water Motion • Pollution • Cultivation

  3. The Simplest of Plants • Can be single-celled and microscopic • Most important food producers in their ecosystems • Habitat for many microscopic animals • In freshwater, algae can form “pond scum” and green “hairy” growth on submerged objects • Blooms of diatoms may give a brownish colour • Single cells often form chains or filaments • Some unicellular algae can swim like animals • They contain chlorophyll and perform photosynthesis • Algae produce dissolved O2 as waste, but when in decay they deplete O2 and cause “summer die-off”

  4. The challenges with Algae • Unable to fit all algae into the Kingdom Plantae • Overlap occurs in habitat, structures, and physiology • Algae is often in symbiosis with other organism • i.e. Corals and Lichen • The taxonomic classification will continue to evolve

  5. Major Groups of Freshwater Algae • Green Algae • Blue-Green Algae • Stoneworts • Euglenoids • Dinoflagellates • Diatoms

  6. Green Algae

  7. Green Algae • Species are either marine or freshwater based • Cells have a nuclei • Occur as single cells, round and flattened colonies, or as filaments. Some are mobile with flagella. • Pigments are in distinct bodies, plastids or chloroplasts • Most abundant of the pond algae • Examples: Chlamydomonas, Euglena, Chlorella, Volvox

  8. “Blue-Green Algae”

  9. “Blue-Green Algae” • They were incorrectly labeled as algae • Cyanobacteria are true prokaryotes and members of the domain Bacteria – largest among them • They are aerobic photosynthesizers • Specialized cells: heterocyst for nitrogen fixation • 3 basic types of morphology • Unicellular (i.e. Synechocystis) • Forming round/square chains (i.e. Anabaena) • Forming loose colonies in gelatinous material (i.e. Gleocapsa)

  10. Products made with Cyanobacteria • Spirulina health supplements • Eaten by the Aztecs, people on the shores of Lake Chad • Cultivated in Hawaii, California and Thailand • “Super blue-green algae” from Klamath Lake, Oregon • Aphanizomenonflos-aquae: rich in essential amino acids

  11. Diatoms

  12. Diatoms • Phylum Bacillariophyta (a marine plankton) • Symmetry options bilateral (pennate) vs radial (centric) • Two halves or “valves” fit together like a pillbox • Cell walls and other parts made of silica • Silicon is 2nd most abundant element in Earth’s crust • Economically important as the producer of diatomaceous earth as filters, abrasives, insulators, pesticides, absorbants, etc. • Examples include: Cyclotella and Navicula • Sometimes used for testing fine focus of microscopes

  13. Next day… • Dinoflagellates • Brown Algae • Red Algae • More of everything else..

  14. Dinoflagellates

  15. Dinoflagellates • Phylum Dinophyceae of the SuperphylumAlveolates • An “algal protist” that is mobile with two flagella • 1 equatorial and 1 in an apical groove • Unique apical horn opposite multiple antapical horns • Over 2000 species, mostly marine and parasitic • Special (exterior) plate protection called theca • Only eukaryote with permanent condensed chromosome • Examples: Ceratium and Zooxanthellae (endosymbiotic) • Bio-luminescent cells glow when aggetated • Cause red tides by producing neurotoxin • Leads to paralytic shellfish poisoning

  16. Seaweed or Algae? • Seaweeds are marine algae! • They evolved a variety of body types: • Filamentous: branched or unbranched chain of cells • Parenchymatous: cell divisions occur in 2D or 3D to produce tissue of randomly arranged cells • Pseudoparenchymatous: forming tissues that are characteristic of organ systems (complex parts) • Thallus(brown algal tissue) is actually a tangle of filaments

  17. Class Phaeophyceae (Brown Algae)

  18. Class Phaeophyceae (Brown Algae)

  19. Class Phaeophyceae (Brown Algae) • 2000 species that dominate rocky shorelines • i.e. Macrocytis (100m giant kelp), Fucus & Sargassum • Autotrophic (self-nourishment with inorganic material • Contains chlorophyll a & c, with 4 membranes around the chloroplasts • Crazy fact: motile reproductive cells with dual flagella! • A carotenoid pigment (fucoxanthin) for brown colour • Some use root-like holdfast, stipe, blade or air bladders • Often grow on other plants, as epiphytes • Eaten by humans, herbivorous fish & gastropods • Used as filler and stabilizers in products such as ice cream and toothpaste. Also produces the gum-like algin, which is capable of absorbing 200-300 times its own weight!

  20. Phylum Rhodophyta (Red Algae)

  21. Phylum Rhodophyta (Red Algae) • Life Cycle is Complex! • After fertilization… • Carposporophyte (2n) that produces asexual carpospores (seed-like) • Tetrasporophytes (2n) grow out to produce haploid tetraspores through meiosis • Gametophytes (1n) grow on separate organisms to produce gametes (like pollen ) • Spermatia (non-motile sperm) • Trichogyne(ovary-like)

  22. Phylum Rhodophyta (Red Algae) • About 6000 marine species – extremely diverse • Non-motile (without flagella) – more plant-like • Contains chlorophyll a, stores food as floridean starch • The red pigment comes from (pink) phycobiliproteins • Mostly macroscopic with cellulosic cell walls, covered by agar, & concentrates calcium carbonate • Toxic terpenoids to prevent herbivory • Used for anti-cancer drugs, making yogurt and Nori for sushi • Coralline algae is hard like corals • Should we rename them as “Coralgal reefs”?

  23. Your next research and report… • From the order of your invasive species presentation • Choose an algae (from #1-45) on the poster • Research this local species (use at least 3 resources) • Prepare a ½ page report and ½ page labeled diagram • Include: Taxonomic Classification • Morphology / Anatomy, Morphogenesis / Growth • Life History / Life Cycle, Communities / Ecosystems • Interactions / Symbiosis, Photosynthesis, Nutrient-Uptake • Temperature & salinity effects, Mobility, Pollution effects • Potential cultivation & grocery store botany

  24. Potential resources • http://www.algaebase.org/ • http://tolweb.org/tree/ • http://biodiversity.bc.ca/ • http://www.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/ • http://scholar.google.ca/

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