Algae|Fritsch Classification| Chlorella| Spirulina| Chlamydomonas| Dr. Jayarama Reddy| St. Joseph's

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The algae are chlorophyll-containing primi­tive plants, both prokaryotic and eukaryotic, with wide range of thalli starting from unicellular to multicellular organisations. They are autotrophic and hence can manufacture their own food. They produce highest amount of biomass. The term algae (Latin meaning; seaweeds) was first introduced by Linnaeus in 1753. The algae comprise of a large heterogeneous assemblage of plants which are diverse in habitat, size, organisation, physiology, biochemistry, and reproduction.
1. Algae are chlorophyll-bearing autotrophic thalloid plant body.
2. Almost all the algae are aquatic. The most recent estimate suggests 72,500 algal species worldwide.
3. The plant body may be unicellular to large robust multicellular structure.
4. The multicellular complex thalli lack vascu­lar tissue and also show little differentiation of tissues.
5. The sex organs are generally unicellular but, when multicellular, all cells are fertile and in most cases the entire structure does not have any protection jacket.
6. The zygote undergoes further development either by mitosis or meiosis, but not through embryo formation.
7. Plants having distinct alternation of genera­tions. Both gametophyte (Haploid) and sporophyte (Diploid) generations — when present in the life cycle are independent.
The first most comprehensive classification of algae was given by F.E Fritsch in his book “The structure and reproduction of the Algae”. Classification of Fritsch was based on the following criteria. Pigmentation
Types of flagella, Assimilatory products, Thallus structure an Method of reproduction.
Fritsch divided algae into the following 11 classes
Chlorophyceae
Xanthophyceae
Chrysophyceae
Bacillariophyceae
Cryptophyceae
Dinophyceae
Chloromonadineae
Euglenineae
Phaeophyceae
Rhodophyceae and
Myxophyceae or Cyanophyceae