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Today, algae are used by humans in many ways; for example, as fertilizers, soil conditioners, and livestock feed. [124] Aquatic and microscopic species are cultured in clear tanks or ponds and are 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.
The algal cells are commonly found in the soil and water of many regions. Prototheca, especially P. wickerhamii and P. zopfii, can colonize the skin, fingernails, respiratory and digestive tracts. Prototheca algae cells can enter the bloodstream through open wounds, mucous membrane pathways, or the ingestion or inhalation of the cells ...
Another example is Sargassum, which creates unique floating mats of seaweed in the tropical waters of the Sargasso Sea that serve as the habitats for many species. Some members of the class, such as kelps, are used by humans as food. Between 1,500 and 2,000 species of brown algae are known worldwide. [5]
Spirogyra (common names include water silk, mermaid's tresses, and blanket weed) is a genus of filamentous charophyte green algae of the order Zygnematales, named for the helical or spiral arrangement of the chloroplasts that is characteristic of the genus. Spirogyra species, of which there are more than 500, are commonly found in freshwater ...
Diatoms, unicellular algae that have siliceous cell walls. [46] They are the most abundant form of algae in the ocean, although they can be found in fresh water as well. [46] They account for about 40% of the world's primary marine production, and produce about 25% of the world's oxygen. [47] Diatoms are very diverse, and comprise about 100,000 ...
Volvox is a polyphyletic genus of chlorophyte green algae in the family Volvocaceae. Volvox species form spherical colonies of up to 50,000 cells, and for this reason they are sometimes called globe algae. They live in a variety of freshwater habitats, and were first reported by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1700.
Cyanobacteria can be found in almost every terrestrial and aquatic habitat – oceans, fresh water, damp soil, temporarily moistened rocks in deserts, bare rock and soil, and even Antarctic rocks. They can occur as planktonic cells or form phototrophic biofilms. They are found inside stones and shells (in endolithic ecosystems). [93]
Chloroplasts probably evolved following an endosymbiotic event between an ancestral, photosynthetic cyanobacterium and an early eukaryotic phagotroph. [17] This event (termed primary endosymbiosis) is at the origin of the red and green algae (including the land plants or Embryophytes which emerged within them) and the glaucophytes, which together make up the oldest evolutionary lineages of ...