NAME: OLUTOLA ADEMOLA JOEL

MATRIC NO: 190401082

DEPARTMENT: BIOCHEMISTRY

COURSE CODE: MCB 202

COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTORY MICROBIOLOGY

ASSIGNMENT
Write on Classification of Algae by Smith and their medical importants
Classification Proposed by G. M. Smith ( 1955 )

G.M. Smith supported the classifi cation proposed by Pascher ( 1914 , 1931 ) and pro-

posed a new classifi cation with certain modifi cations. He divided algae into divi-

sions and further into classes. The seven divisions of algae as proposed are:

S. No. Divisions Classes

1. Chlorophyta Chlorophyceae e.g. Volvox

Charophyceae e.g. Chara

2. Euglenophyta Euglenophyceae e.g. Euglena

3. Pyrrophyta Desmophyceae e.g. Desmarestia

Dinophyceae e.g. Dinophysis

No. Divisions Classes

4. Chrysophyta Chrysophyceae e.g. Chromolina

Xanthophyceae e.g. Botrydium

Bacillariophyceae e.g. Pinnularia

5. Phaeophyta Isogenerateae e.g. Ectocarpus

Heterogenerateae e.g. Mynomena

Cyclosporeae e.g. Sargassum

6. Cyanophyta Myxophyceae e.g. Nostoc, Anabaena

7. Rhodophyta Rhodophyceae e.g. Polysiphonia, Gracilaria , Batrachospermum

Smith also recognized algae of uncertain systematic position and placed them

under chloromonadales and cryptophyceae.

 Division 1 Chlorophyta Chlorophycae:
Chlorophyta is a division of green algae contain chlorophylls a and b, and store food as starch in their
plastids.

There are many different species belonging to Chlorophyta; some are unicellular, some are multicelluar.
The genome structures within Chlorophyta are all different. However, there are some common
characteristics across species. Chlorophyta inhabit freshwater, marine and terrestrial habitats.

Conditions for survival include light, carbon, essential nutrients, water quality, temperature and tidal
exposure. Certain intertidal species such as the ulva, or sea lettuce, can tolerate a range of temperatures
and survive drying at low tide. They have two classes in this division, chlorophyceae and charophyceae.

Following orders are included in the division: Volvocales, Tetrasporales, Ulotrichales, Ulvales,
Schizogoniales, Cladophorales, Oedogoniales, Zygnematales, Chlorococcales, Siphonales,
Siphonocladiales and Charales.

Medical important:

medical purposes. For instance, they served as a major source of beta carotene, which apart from using
as a food coloring has been shown to be effective in preventing certain cancers, such as lung cancer.

Division 2: Euglenophyta Euglenophyceae

The algae in this division are found in freshwater and stagnant water; their reserve food is paramylon.
This division has two orders: Euglenales and Colaciales.

Euglenophyta Taxonomy is contentious. Primarily unicellular flagellates; both photosynthetic and

heterotrophic. Class Euglenophyceae Chlorophylls a and b; paramylon stored outside chloroplasts;
mitochondria with paddle-shaped cristae; flagella lack tubular hairs, but some with hairlike scales;
pellicle covering of sliding sheets. Predominately inhabitants of the freshwater environment, these
unicellular flagellates are cylindrical, ovoid to fusiform, microscopic plants of eukaryotic organization
(possessing a true nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles) with usually two flagella for
locomotion, an undifferentiated cell wall, and chloroplasts; colorless varieties are known. The flagellar
arrangement is atypical in that there is a longer emergent flagella of the tinsel variety (pantonematic),
but the mastigonemes (hairs) are located on only one side of the flagella; a condition referred to as
“stichonematic” .

Medical important:

Fertiliser: Euglena feed may decrease the mortality rate of young fishes, and the residue from after
biofuel extraction can be used as feed and fertiliser, avoiding unnecessary waste.

Division 3 Pyrrophyta Desmophyceae:

Two classes are recognized in the phylum Pyrrophyta: Dinophyceae (dinoflagellates) and Cryptophyceae
(cryptomonads). Because all are unicellular, they are classified in the kingdom Protista. There are
approximately one thousand mostly marine, mostly motile species. A few are colonial or filamentous.
Chlorophylls a and c are present, as are carotenoids and xanthophylls. Peridinin, a reddish-brown
pigment, is largely responsible for the color of these organisms. The product of photosynthesis is starch.
The method of cell division is unusual. The chromosomes inside the nuclear membrane remain visible at
all times, not seeming to lose their organization, as happens in normal mitosis. Further, the nuclear
membrane remains intact during cell division. Some organisms have cellulose walls; those that don’t
instead have .pellicles. Motile forms have two flagella. A longer flagellum lies in a groove called the
sulcus, and a shorter flagellum lies perpendicular to the first in a groove called the girdle. The positioning
of the flagella causest he cell to swim in a rotating motion.

MEDICAL IMPORTANT
They are used for variety of conditions such as; cancer, fibromyalgia, stress, weight loss,heart
diseases,high cholesterol and many other conditions.

Division 4 Chrysophyta Chrysophyceae:Chrysophytes, or golden algae, are common microscopic

chromists in fresh water. Some species are colorless, but the vast majority are photosynthetic. As such,
they are particularly important in lakes, where they may be the primary source of food for zooplankton.
They are not considered truly autotrophic by some biologists because nearly all chrysophytes become
facultatively heterotrophic in the absence of adequate light, or in the presence of plentiful dissolved
food. When this occurs, the chrysoplast atrophies and the alga may turn predator, feeding on bacteria
or diatoms.
There are more than a thousand described species of golden algae, most of them free-swimming and
unicellular, but there are filamentous and colonial forms. Other chrysophytes may spend part of their
life as amoeboid cells. At the left and center of the above illustration is Dinobryon, a freshwater genus in
which the individual cells are surrounded by vase-shaped loricae, composed of chitin fibrils and other
polysaccharides.

Medical important:
Brown algae are edible algae found off the coast of Japan, Korea, and China. Brown algae are used for a
variety of conditions including cancer, fibromyalgia, arthritis, stress, weight loss, heart disease, high
cholesterol, and many other conditions.

Division 5 Phaeophyta (Brown Algae)

Phaeophyta are greenish-brown colored algae that contain fucoxanthin, beta-carotene and chlorophyll a
and c. They are the most complex forms of algae, commonly adapted in the marine environment.

Length

The length of Phaeophyta can range from a microscopic length to several meters. The longest size
measured is about 30 meters.

Phaeophyta or brown algae are a group of autotrophic, multicellular organisms, belonging to the class
Phaeophyceae in the division Chromophyta. They contain the xanthophyll pigment – fucoxanthin, in
addition to chlorophyll a and c. Hence, the members of phaeophyta exhibit a characteristic greenish-
brown color. The brown colored pigment is very important for the adaptation of phaeophyta in deep
seas and oceans. Phaeophyta are commonly adapted to marine environment, only a few phaeophyta
are freshwater species. In fact, majority of phaeophyta are predominant in the temperate zones of
Northern Hemisphere, whereas some species are found in warm tropical waters. As of now, about 1500-
2000 species of brown algae are identified throughout the world.Phaeophyta Classification

Domain Eukaryota (Presence of membrane-bound cell organelles.)

Kingdom Protista – Simple organisms, usually microscopic, seaweed are exceptions.

Phylum Heterokontophyta – Algae with chlorophyll a and c.

Class Phaeophyceae – Brown algae having pigment fucoxanthin.

Order Fucales, Laminarales, Dictyotales, Ectocarpales

Family Fucaceae

Genus Fucus

Species distichus, serratus, spiralis, vesiculosus

Medical important:
One of the important components of Golden Algae is fucoxanthin. It has proven benefits in reducing
chronic diseases such as Cancer.

Division 6 Cyanophyta Myxophyceae :

The Phylum Cyanophyta (Myxophyceae, blue-green algae) differs from other algae in having a
procaryotic cell organization, i.e., it lacks organized double membraned nuclei, chromatophores and
mitochondria, and possesses characteristic photosynthetic pigments including biliproteins, myxoxanthin
and myxoxanthophyll in addition to chlorophyll-a and β-carotene. No flagellated cells are formed and
movement of motile stages is brought about by a characteristic gliding action. However, certain
specialized cells known as heterocysts are produced in many species. True sexuality, defined as
alternating karyogamy and meiosis, does not occur but genetic recombination which fulfils the function
of sex is known in some members.

Medical important:
People use blue-green algae for treating high blood pressure and as a protein supplement. It's also used
for high levels of cholesterol or other fats (lipids) in the blood, diabetes, obesity, and many other
conditions.

Division 7 Rhodophyta Rhodophyceae :

The scientific name of Red Algae is Rhodophyta and they belong to Class Rhodophyceae. There are two
classes of red algal namely the Florideophyceae and Bangiophyceae. Both Florideophyceae and
Bangiophyceae comprise 99% of red algal diversity in marine and freshwater habitats.
Red algae or Rhodophyta – It is a distinctive type of species that are mostly found in the freshwater lakes
and are the oldest type of eukaryotic algae. They are red in colour due to the presence of a pigment
called chlorophyll A, phycocyanin, and phycoerythrin. They are the member of the tribe Amansieae
(Rhodomelaceae, Ceramiales, Rhodophyta), in which only Aneurianna and Lenormandia Sonder have
foliar blades. They are the distinctive type of species, mostly found in the deep freshwater bodies.Some
rhodophytes have very little phycoerythrin, and may appear green or bluish from the chlorophyll and
other pigments present in them.

In Asia, rhodophytes are important sources of food, such as nori. The high vitamin and protein content
of this food makes it attractive, as does the relative simplicity of cultivation, which began in Japan more
than 300 years ago.

Some rhodophytes are also important in the formation of tropical reefs, an activity with which they have
been involved for millions of years; in some Pacific atolls, red algae have contributed far more to reef
structure than other organisms, even more than corals. These reef-building rhodophytes are called
coralline algae, because they secrete a hard shell of carbonate around themselves, in much the same
way that corals do

Medical important:
it helps in the use of curing cancer and they are also use for the study of metabolic pathway, cell
biological processes and genetic. One species that is particularly useful for research is Gaidieria
sulphuraria because of its metabolic versatility.