BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY

SYSTEMA LAB (LBYBI12)

Exercise 7

THE GREEN ALGAE

Introduction

The green algae (Supergroup Archaeplastida, Clade Chlorophyta, Division Chlorophyta) are considered most
advanced among algae and most closely related to land plants. They exhibit great diversity in body organization,
structure of chloroplasts, number and kind of flagella, reproduction and kind of gametes formed. Unicellular,
colonial, filamentous, parenchymatous, coenocytic or siphonous body organizations are all well represented. Their
chloroplasts may be spiral, ring-shaped, cup-shaped, stellate, discoid, ribbon-like or band-like, containing
chlorophylls a and b in the same proportions as the 'higher' plants; beta-carotene (a yellow pigment); and various
characteristic xanthophylls (yellowish or brownish pigments). Their whiplash or tinsel flagella may be one to many
on the anterior end of their motile cell.

Asexual reproduction may be by fission (splitting), fragmentation or by formation of zoospores (motile spores).
Sexual reproduction is very common and may be isogamous (gametes both motile and same size); anisogamous
(both motile and different sizes - female bigger) or oogamous (female non-motile and egg-like; male motile). They
may have an alternation of haploid and diploid phases. The haploid phases form gametangia (sexual reproductive
organs) and the diploid phases form zoospores by reduction division (meiosis). Some do not have an alternation of
generations, meiosis occurring in the zygote.

Green algae may be planktonic or benthic in aquatic habitats (both freshwater and marine) or living in symbiosis
with fungi in terrestrial habitats. They can grow even in snow and produce blooms known as the “watermelon snow”!
There are about 8,000 species of green algae, of which only about 1000 species are in marine waters, the rest in
freshwater habitats.

Objectives
1. To distinguish the green algae based on their vegetative and reproductive structures, life cycle features
and habitat.
2. To explore the diversity, economic and ecological significance of the green algae.

Materials
Images of green algae

Procedure

Be familiar, draw and label parts of the representative green algae as described below.

1. Chlamydomonas

Chlamydomonas is a unicellular motile green alga that inhabit freshwater habitats. This tiny alga has the following
major parts: the cellulosic cell wall, the central nucleus, one cup-shaped chloroplast, the eyespot, the pyrenoid
(starch body in the lower part of the chloroplast), contractile vacuole, mitochondria and two anterior flagella.

Reproduction in this organism is done both sexually and asexually. Asexual reproduction is through production of
biflagellated zoospores that develop into gametes in response to adverse environmental conditions.
 BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY
SYSTEMA LAB (LBYBI12)

In your worksheet, draw or attach a clear image of a specimen of Chlamydomonas, label the parts and describe as
indicated.

2. Volvox

Volvox represents the peak of evolutionary development of the colonial motile type of green algae. The number of
cells in the colonies of various species of Volvox ranges from 500 to 50,000. The coordinated movement of the
flagella of all cells allows the entire colony to behave like one individual organism, moving forward as it also spins in
a vertical axis. The colony varies from spherical to ovoid. A gelatinous envelope holds all cells together.

Volvox shows some specialization and division of labor among the cells. Reproductive cells occur at the base or hind
end of the colony while the forward or leading end has only vegetative cells. Eyespots in the vegetative cells are
larger than those of the reproductive cells. Sexual reproduction is oogamous. Male gametes are formed in large
numbers by multiple subdivisions of the protoplasts of certain adult vegetative cells. These cells are the antheridia.
The female gamete, the egg is large and nonmotile. Only one or a very few of them are formed within any one parent
cell.

Small daughter colonies which result from either sexual or asexual reproduction are usually seen floating in the
center of the larger parent colony. When the parent colony disintegrates, the daughter colonies (gonidia) are
released and become mature colonies. Note that each cell of the colony is Chlamydomonas-like.

In your worksheet, draw or attach a clear image of a specimen of Volvox showing daughter colonies, label the parts
and describe as indicated.

3. Spirogyra

Spirogyra is a filamentous green alga named for the helical or spiral arrangement of the chloroplasts. Cells of
Spirogyra contain one to several spiral, ribbon-like and parietal chloroplasts, containing row of conspicuous
pyrenoids. Reproduction is by conjugation between two adjoined filaments (called scalariform or ladder-like
conjugation) or between cells of the same filament (also called lateral or side conjugation). The contents of one
cell flow or are squeezed through connective tube to unite with the contents of the other cell. The resulting
zygote forms a thick walled, sometimes much decorated, zygospore, which lies dormant before it generates into a
new filament.

In your worksheet, draw or attach a clear image of a specimen of Spirogyra, label the parts and describe as
indicated.

4. Oedogonium

Oedogonium is a simple, unbranched filamentous green alga that reproduces by oogamy. Cells in the filament are
mostly elongated. The chloroplast is reticulate, that is, in a delicate meshwork. Pyrenoids are located at the
intersections of the reticulum. You can see the scattered dark bodies in the cell. The nucleus is usually centrally
placed. A holdfast is present in some species.

To study the sexual phase, look for the antheridia and oogonia. Here and there among the elongated vegetative
cells in the filament are groups of smaller disc-like cells. Each of the short disc-like cells is an antheridium. Each
form two protoplasts. After release, these protoplasts become sperm. They are small, ovoid cells with a ring of
flagella at one end.
 BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY
SYSTEMA LAB (LBYBI12)

The oogonium is a single cell whose entire protoplast has become a large, globose opaque egg. It has a fertilization
pore through which a sperm cell can enter to fertilize the egg. After fertilization, the zygote remains within the
oogonium. It develops a thick wall, goes dormant and is known as an oospore. As the filament decays, the oospore
is released but remains dormant for several months. Later the oospore divides by meiosis to four haploid
zoospores. These have a ring of flagella at one end. They resemble sperm but are larger cells. They swim about and
later each grows into new filaments.

In your worksheet, draw or attach a clear image of a specimen of Oedogonium, label the parts and describe as
indicated.

5. Desmids

Desmids are unicellular or filamentous green algae whose cells are divided into two symmetrical portions (semi-
cells) usually with a conspicuous constriction at the mid-region, the isthmus. The wall is in two sections that meet
and slightly overlap at the isthmus. In a few forms, the content only of the cells is symmetrically divided and there
is no median constriction. The wall is complex in its ornamentations, spines, granules and other decorations. There
may be mucilage pores in the wall and the cells are often enclosed in a wide sheath of mucilage.

Most common representative of desmids include Cosmarium and Closterium. Note the elongated semi-cells of the
latter compared with the half-circle-like organization of the former.

In your worksheet, draw or attach a clear image of a specimen of Cosmarium and Closterium, label the parts and
describe as indicated.

6. Chara

Chara, a charophyte, represents the most advanced group of green algae. It has a stem-like body divided into
nodes and internodes, with whorls of branches arising at internodes. The body is several cells thick, composed of
true parenchyma tissue derived from cell division of the apical meristem. Although these features seem to
correspond to those of flowering plants, virtually all of the resemblance is spurious, because the earliest vascular
land plants had no nodes, internodes or branches. The ultrastructural and morphological data suggest that the
Charophytes are a paraphyletic assemblage.

Reproductive structures of Chara are also much like the true plants. The egg and sperm cells are protected by a
sterile jacket of cells. The egg is formed within a structure called nucule, the sperms in the globule.

In your worksheet, draw or attach a clear image of a specimen of Chara, label the parts and describe as indicated.

7. Examine the following macroscopic specimens of green algae: Acetabularia, Caulerpa spp, Halimeda spp,
Enteromorpha, Ulva

In your worksheet, make simple sketches or attach a clear image.

References:
Campbell N et al. (2018). Biology: a global approach (11th ed). Pearson Education Ltd.
Reece JB et al 2012. Campbell Biology: Concepts & Connections (7th ed.). Pearson Education South Asia PTE. LTD. (Phil. Edition).

Prepared by EH Mandia June2020