Title: Division PHAEOPHYTA
 1Division PHAEOPHYTA the Brown Algae 
 2Brown Algae (Division PHAEOPHYTA) Some General 
Characteristics
Almost all are marine  Contain Chlorophyll a 
and c, fucoxanthin and other carotenoids  Have 
cell walls of cellulose, alginic acid and 
sulphated polysaccharides  The carbohydrates 
stored are laminarin and mannitol  Flagella are 
two, and lateral, the anterior one tinsel and 
the posterior whiplash 
 3Typical Brown Algal Zoöspore 
 4Filamentous Brown Algae, e.g. Ectocarpus 
(filaments with plurilocular and unilocular 
sporangia)
ltPlurilocular sporangium
ltUnilocular sporangium
Habitat - Ocean shores, on rocks and larger 
seaweeds, worldwide 
 5Sporophytegt
Diploid
n.b. MEIOSIS occurs in UNILOCULAR sporangia and 
MITOSIS in PLURILOCULAR sporangia
Fertilization
Diploid zoöspores
 Meiosis
 Haploid
Gametes
 Life History of Ectocarpus - Isomorphic 
Alternation of Generations
 Mitosis
Haploid zoöspores
Gametophytegt 
 6 Large, Thalloid Brown Algae (Kelps) exhibiting 
Sporic Meiosis and Heteromorphic Alternation of 
Generations e.g. Laminaria (from Raven)
Male zoöspore (n)
Unilocular sporangium
Male gametophyte
Female zoöspore (n)
MEIOSIS
 Blade
Female gametophyte
Sperm
 Egg
Fertilization
 Stipe
Zygote
Holdfast
Mature sporophyte 
Developing sporophyte 
 7 Macrocystis - the Giant Kelp of the West 
Coast of N. America 
 8Macrocystis pyrifera grows to up to 150 feet in 
length off the West Coast of N.A., but has a 
life span of only 5 years. 
 9Brown Algae exhibiting Gametic Meiosis and 
Oögamy, e.g. Fucus vesiculosus (the common 
rockweed) 
 10 The Life History of Fucus, the Rockweed (from 
Raven) n.b. gametic meiosis is relatively rare 
in plants 
Floating egg sac
8 eggs in oögonium
 Meiosis
Antheridia
Sperm packet
Conceptacle
c.s. receptacle
 Fertilization
Diploid individual 
 11A tropical relative of the Rockweeds - Sargassum
 n.b. floats are on separate branches. Two 
species of Sargassum (S. natans and S. fluitans, 
are free-floating, and are not know to reproduce 
sexually. Typical of the Sargasso Sea, and known 
as Sargasso Weed or Gulf Weed. 
 12Traditional and Economic Uses of Brown Algae
In Europe, kelps and rockweeds were burned for 
their soda, used in glazing and glass making, 
from the 17th Century. In the early 19th Century, 
iodine was extracted from kelp ash. Algin, first 
discovered in the 1880s, is a complex organic 
compound used in dozens of different products, 
including toothpaste, ice cream, milk shakes and 
textiles. In parts of Europe, kelps and rockweeds 
are used as manure, and occasionally as livestock 
feed. The Japanese use Laminaria spp. to make 
Kombu and another brown alga, Undaria, to make 
Wakame 
 13Red Algae (Division RHODOPHYTA) Some General 
Characteristics
  Mostly marine, a few freshwater  Contain 
Chlorophyll a, carotenoids  phycobilins 
(especially PHYCOERYTHRIN)  Have cell walls of 
cellulose, pectin and calcium salts  The 
carbohydrate stored is floridean starch  There 
are no flagellated stages 
 14 Branched, Filamentous Red Algae, e.g. 
Polysiphonia lanosa Epiphytic on one of the 
Rockweeds (Ascophyllum nodosum)
ltAscophyllum
ltPolysiphonia 
 15Peculiarities of the Life Cycle of Polysiphonia
 TWO sporophytic and one gametophytic phase  
The oögonium has a unique appearance and 
function, and is therefore called a CARPOGONIUM  
Because the male gametes are non-motile, they are 
known as SPERMATIA  The first sporophytic phase, 
known as the CARPOSPOROPHYTE, is small, and 
remains attached to the female gametophyte. It 
produces CARPOSPORES by mitosis  Carpospores 
germinate into TETRASPOROPHYTES, which look like 
the gametophyte, but produce haploid TETRASPORES 
by meiosis. 
 16Life History of Polysiphonia (from Moore) (n.b . 
TRICHOGYNE)
Meiosis
Trichogyne
Spermatangium
Tetraspores (n)
 Tetrasporangia
 Tetrasporophyte
HAPLOID
Carpogonium with egg
Spermatia
Male gametophyte
Female gametophyte
Fertilization
Carpospores (2n)
Zygote nucleus migrates
DIPLOID
Carposporophyte 
 17Corallina, encrusted with calcium and magnesium 
carbonate, contributes to reef formation 
 18Porphyra (Nori, Laver), a Red Alga Widely 
Consumed as Food
Planting Brush Bundles
Growth Habit
 Drying as Sheets on Bamboo Splints
Washing the Nori 
 19Dulse (Rhodymenia palmata), a Tasty Snack Food 
in Ireland and Nova Scotia 
 20Irish Moss, Black Moss or Carrageen (Chondrus 
crispus), a Source of carrageenin, used for many 
of the same purposes as algin (ice cream, 
cosmetics etc.) 
 21Agar-agar - the Product of a Number of Red Alga 
genera, including Gelidium and Gracilaria 
Gracilaria
Gelidium 
 22 Division CHRYSOPHYTA The Golden-brown Algae, 
Diatoms and Yellow-green Algae 
 23Division CHRYSOPHYTA Some General 
Characteristics
 Marine or freshwater some terrestrial  
Contain chlorophyll a and c, fucoxanthin and 
other carotenoids (cf. brown algae, to which they 
are closely related)  Have cell walls of 
cellulose or a silica shell sometimes absent  
The carbohydrate stored is chrysolaminarin  
Flagella are none, one or two, whiplash or tinsel 
 24Division CHRYSOPHYTA Class Bacillariophyceae 
 The Diatoms
Mostly unicellular with unique box-like, 
ornamented wall of pectin impregnated with silica 
 May be bilaterally symmetrical (pennate) or 
radially symmetrical (centric) 
 25SEMs (Scanning Electron Micrographs) of Pennate 
and Centric Diatoms 
 26Valve and Girdle Views of Pennate and Centric 
Diatoms
Girdle
 Valve 
 27Locomotion in Pennate Diatoms
Crystalline substances secreted by pores take up 
water, forming sticky fibres which expand along 
the central groove called the RAPHE. They adhere 
to anything they touch, then contract, dragging 
the cell along. 
 28Pennate Diatom Life History 
 29Economic and Scientific Importance of Diatoms
 An important component of the aquatic food 
chain  Frustules mined as DIATOMACEOUS EARTH 
(Kieselguhr), used as an abrasive and in 
filters  The fine markings on the frustule can 
be used in the calibration of optical equipment  
Used in the palaeobiology of lake sediments 
 30Division CHRYSOPHYTA Class 
Chrysophyceae The 
Golden-Brown Algae
Since these are rarely encountered in great 
numbers, we shall only concern ourselves with an 
interesting colonial representative, Dinobryon
Each cell divides longitudinally and one product 
migrates to the edge of the lorica, and forms one 
of its own
The protoplast is naked and the LORICA is of a 
firm gelatinous material similar to pectin.
The longer flagellum is tinsel, the shorter 
whiplash 
 31Division CHRYSOPHYTA Class 
Xanthophyceae 
The Yellow-Green Algae 
Vaucheria, the Water-Felt
 Forms mats in quiet pools, running water, or 
on greenhouse flower pots  Coenocytic  Forms 
large, multiflagellate (compound) zoöspores  
Oögamous, with large gametangia 
 32Vaucheria
Gametangia (Antheridium and Oögonium) and 
Fertilization
Zoöspore Formation 
 33 Division PYRROPHYTA the Dinoflagellates 
 34Division PYRROPHYTA Some General Characteristics
 Marine or freshwater  Contain chlorophyll a 
and c, peridinin and other carotenoids  Cell 
wall of armor-like cellulose plates sometimes 
absent  The carbohydrate stored is starch  
Flagella two, lateral, tinsel, one belt-like, one 
trailing 
 35The armor-plating of Dinoflagellates
Sculpturing of the thecae
Peridinium and Gonyaulax 
 36Red Tides
 Blooms of Gymnodinium breve cause fish death, 
e.g. off the Florida gulf coast  Blooms of 
Gonyaulax can poison molluscs and other 
invertebrates  Blooms of Gonyaulax tamarensis 
(east coast) and Gymnodinium catenella (west 
coast) cause PSP (paralytic shellfish poisoning) 
in humans and other vertebrates, due to 
concentration of the toxins by filter-feeders  
The toxins involved are nerve poisons 
 37Bioluminescence in Dinoflagellates
 Can be a persistent glow or flashes of light 
when water is disturbed Generation of light 
requires ATP, oxygen, the substrate LUCIFERIN and 
the enzyme LUCIFERASE 
 The function of bioluminescence in 
dinoflagellates remains an enigma
Noctiluca 
 38Symbiosis in Dinoflagellates and Closely-Related 
Cryptomonads - 
Zooxanthellae
 Found in sponges, jellyfish, sea anemones, 
corals, flatworms, etc.  In case of corals, they 
provide carbon dioxide, protection and nutrients 
(wastes) In case of algae, they provide oxygen, 
waste removal  carbohydrates
Zooxanthellae in coral 
 39Division EUGLENOPHYTA the Euglenoids 
 40Division EUGLENOPHYTA Some General 
Characteristics
 Marine or freshwater  Contain chlorophyll a 
and b, carotenoids  Cell-wall absent cell 
surrounded by a flexible PELLICLE or PERIPLAST  
The carbohydrate stored is paramylon  Flagella 
1-3, tinsel 
 41Euglena
--Flagellum
---Canal
---Reservoir
 Stigma--
c.v.---
--Chloroplast
--Paramylum
n.b. paramylum  periplast
--Nucleus
 Periplast--
n.b. single flagellum
c.v.  Contractile Vacuole
 n.b. changing shape 
 42Some new terms that you have encountered in 
Lecture 2
Unilocular and plurilocular sporangia Holdfast, 
stipe and lamina or blade Receptacle and 
conceptacle Carpogonium and trichogyne Spermatangi
um and spermatia Carposporophyte and 
carpospores Tetrasporophyte and tetraspores 
 43More new terms from Lecture 2
Pennate and centric (diatoms) Frustule Raphe Valve
 and girdle view Auxospore Lorica Thecae 
(epitheca and hypotheca) Paralytic shellfish 
poisoning (PSP) Bioluminescence 
 44 and more...
Pellicle or periplast Contractile vacuole 
 45Photosynthetic Pigments, Cell Wall Constituents 
and Carbohydrates Stored in the Algae
For a summary of these features, see Table 27.1 
in Moore, Clark  Vodopich