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The red algae, or Rhodophyta (/rodft/ roh-DOFt-t or /rodfat/ ROH-d-FY-t; from Ancient
Greek: rhodon, rose and phyton,
plant), are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic
algae,[2] and also one of the largest, with about 5,000
6,000 species[3] of mostly multicellular, marine algae, including many notable seaweeds. Other references indicate as many as 10,000 species;[4] more detailed counts
indicate about 4,000 in about 600 genera (3,738 marine
species in 546 genera in 10 orders, plus the unclassiable; and 164 freshwater species in 30 genera in eight
orders).[5]
from the Cambrian period. Other algae of dierent origins lled a similar role in the late Paleozoic, and in more
recent reefs.
Calcite crusts that have been interpreted as the remains of
coralline red algae, date to the terminal Proterozoic.[10]
Thallophytes resembling coralline red algae are known
from the late Proterozoic Doushantuo formation.[11]
3 Taxonomy
The system reected the consensus in 2005. Many studies published since then have provided evidence that is in
agreement.[13][14][15][16] However, other studies have suggested Archaeplastida is paraphyletic.[17][18] As of January 2011, the situation appears unresolved.
Below are other published taxonomies of the red algae,
although none necessarily has to be used, as the taxonomy
of the algae is still in a state of ux (with classication
above the level of order having received little scientic
attention for most of the 20th century).[19]
Habitat
If one denes the kingdom Plantae to mean the Archaeplastida, the red algae will be part of that kingdom
Fossil record
3.1
6 Relationship to Chromalveolata
chloroplasts
Classication comparison
Some sources (such as Lee) place all red algae into the
class Rhodophyceae. (Lees organization is not a comprehensive classication, but a selection of orders consid- Chromalveolatas seem to have evolved from Bikonts that
have acquired red algae as endosymbionts. According to
ered common or important.[21] )
this theory, over time these Bikonts and their endosymSee also: Eukaryote Phylogeny
biont red algae have evolved to become Chromalveolata and their chloroplasts. This part of endosymbiotic
theory is supported by various structural and genetic
similarities.[28]
8 Morphology
Red algae have double cell walls.[30] The outer layers contain the polysaccharides agarose and agaropectin that can
Audouinella, with freshwater as well as marine be extracted from the cell walls by boiling as agar.[30] The
internal walls are mostly cellulose.[30]
species
Acrochaetium eorescens
Complete genome sequences are only available for 5 Main article: Pit connection
species of red algae, including 4 published in 2013.
Cyanidioschyzon merolae, Cyanidiophyceae[22][23]
Galdieria sulphuraria, Cyanidiophyceae
[24]
[25]
10.2
Life cycle
Shortly after the pit connection is formed, cytoplasmic The polyamine spermine is produced, which triggers carcontinuity is blocked by the generation of a pit plug, pospore production.[2]
which is deposited in the wall gap that connects the cells. Spermatangia may have long, delicate appendages, which
Connections between cells having a common parent cell increase their chances of hooking up.[2]
are called primary pit connections. Because apical growth
is the norm in red algae, most cells have two primary pit
10.2 Life cycle
connections, one to each adjacent cell.
Connections that exist between cells not sharing a common parent cell are labeled secondary pit connections.
These connections are formed when an unequal cell division produced a nucleated daughter cell that then fuses
to an adjacent cell. Patterns of secondary pit connections
can be seen in the order Ceramiales.[32]
9.2
Pit plugs
After a pit connection is formed, tubular membranes appear. A granular protein, called the plug core, then forms
around the membranes. The tubular membranes eventually disappear. While some orders of red algae simply
have a plug core, others have an associated membrane at
each side of the protein mass, called cap membranes. The
pit plug continues to exist between the cells until one of
the cells dies. When this happens, the living cell produces
a layer of wall material that seals o the plug.
9.3
Function
In the Carposporophyte: a spermatium merges with a trichogyne (a long hair on the female sexual organ), which
The pit connections have been suggested to function as
then divides to form carposporangia which produce carstructural reinforcement, or as avenues for cell-to-cell
pospores.
communication and transport in red algae, however lit[33]
Carpospores germinate into gametophytes, which protle data supports this hypothesis.
duce sporophytes. Both of these are very similar; they
produce monospores from monosporangia just below a
cross wall in a lament[2] and their spores are liberated
10 Reproduction
through apex of sporangial cell.[2]
The reproductive cycle of red algae may be triggered by The spores of a sporophyte produce either tetrasporophytes. Monospores produced by this phase germinate
factors such as day length.[2]
immediately, with no resting phase, to form an identical copy of parent. Tetrasporophytes may also produce a carpospore, which germinates to form another
10.1 Fertilization
tetrasporophyte.[2]
Red algae lack motile sperm. Hence, they rely on water currents to transport their gametes to the female organs although their sperm are capable of gliding to a
carpogonium's trichogyne.[2]
The trichogyne will continue to grow until it encounters
a spermatium; once it has been fertilized, the cell wall at
its base progressively thickens, separating it from the rest
of the carpogonium at its base.[2]
13
REFERENCES
11
Human consumption
Some red algae are iridescent when not covered with water
12
See also
Brown algae
Green algae
History of phycology
13
References
[12] Adl, Sina M.; et al. (2005). The New Higher Level
Classication of Eukaryotes with Emphasis on the Taxonomy of Protists. Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. 52
(5): 399451. doi:10.1111/j.1550-7408.2005.00053.x.
PMID 16248873
[13] Fabien Burki, Kamran Shalchian-Tabrizi, Marianne
Minge, smund Skjveland, Sergey I. Nikolaev,
Kjetill S. Jakobsen, Jan Pawlowski (2007).
Butler, Geraldine, ed.
Phylogenomics Reshues the
Eukaryotic Supergroups. PLoS ONE. 2 (8): e790.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000790. PMC 1949142 .
PMID 17726520.
[14] Burki, Fabien; Inagaki, Yuji; Brte, Jon; Archibald,
John M.; Keeling, Patrick J.; Cavalier-Smith, Thomas;
Sakaguchi, Miako; Hashimoto, Tetsuo; Horak, Ales;
Kumar, Surendra; Klaveness, Dag; Jakobsen, Kjetill
S.; Pawlowski, Jan; Shalchian-Tabrizi, Kamran (2009).
Large-Scale Phylogenomic Analyses Reveal That Two
Enigmatic Protist Lineages, Telonemia and Centroheliozoa, Are Related to Photosynthetic Chromalveolates. Genome Biology and Evolution. 1: 231
8. doi:10.1093/gbe/evp022. PMC 2817417 . PMID
20333193.
[15] Cavalier-Smith, Thomas (2009). Kingdoms Protozoa and Chromista and the eozoan root of the euBiology Letters.
6 (3): 3425.
karyotic tree.
14 External links
AlgaeBase: Rhodophyta
Seaweed Site: Rhodophyta
Tree of Life: Rhodophyta
Monterey Bay Flora
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