PHAEOPHYCEAE

By,
Sourabha B R
 General characters of class Phaeophyceae
• Represented by 250 genera and 1500 species
• exclusively marine (exception –Pleurocladia)
• Pigments present-
xanthophyll, fucoxanthin in chromatophores
• colour varies from olive green to light golden
or dark brown
• Reserve photosynthetic materials -
LAMINARIN and MANNITOL and rarely
fats.
• sphacelaria – upper littoral
• Leathesia- mid littoral
• Members of laminariales- lower littoral
• All are lithophytes, except Sargasssum .
 CLASSIFICATION

ECTOCARPALES CUTLERIALES DESMARESTIALES SPHACELARIALES FUCALES

TILOPTERIDALES SPOROCHNALES LAMINARIALES DICTYOTALES

Olive green to dark brown colour variation
 THALLUS STRUCTURE
• Highly evolved - resembles a miniature
angiospermic plants
• Lower forms as in that of Ectocarpales
heterotrichism is observed, which disappears in
higher forms and is restricted only to gametophytic
stage.
• complexity in vegetative structure also increases
from ectocarpales to laminarials and to fucales
• many of the phaeophyceae members have lower
cylindrical –stipe- portions which remains attached
to the substratum by a tuft of rhizoids
• Cylindrical portion extends upward as a flattened
portion called as frond - also known as blades when
they are band shaped
FROND RHIZOID
• Sea palms show a single stipe with crown of blades or laminae.
• Some of the species are grow up to 200 to 600 feet in height
eg. Macrocystis spp.

Trichome in
least eveoled
phaeophyce
ae and
highest
evolved
chlorophyce
ae members
 G
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INTERNAL MORPHOLOGY
• In dictyota- 3 regions – upper and
lower pheripheral cell(relatively
smaller) and middle larger cells with
fucosan vescicles and reserve food
material .
• As the members of the class evolve, as
in the case of laminaria, cuticular
epidermis, outer cortex, inner cortex
and medulla is seen.
• Medulla consists of medullary cells,
cross connections, hyphae and
swollen trumpet hyphae
• Cross connections, trumpet hyphae whith perforated walls – features
of advanced anatomical differentiation of this class
CELL STRUCTURE
• Cell wall- 2 layers. Inner layer- made up of cellulose and is arranged
in the form of parallel microfibrils.
• Outer layer – gelatinous composed of pectic substance or algin or
fuccoidin which are colloidal in nature .
• Colloidal form is predominant in saragassum and laminaria and it is
of great importance
• Protoplast : contains cytoplasm, organells, one or more vacuoles, if
vacuoles are large then the cytoplasm is parietal
• Chromatophores with chlorophyll a, ß-carotenoid, violaxanthin,
flavoxanthin, fucoxanthin are present
• Cytoplasm also contains fucosan vescicles(refractive bodies)
• In some members feulgen active compounds are present which are
called as chromocenters and are characteristic to phaeophyceae.
• X and Y chromosomes are well differentiated.
 REPRODUCTION
• all forms of reproduction is present .
• Vegetative reproduction: takes place through fragmentation.
• Asexual reproduction: found in all, except fucus and sargassum
both motile and non motile spores are produced through this mode, but in
different types of sporangia .
a) unilocular sporangia: 4 to128 biflagellate zoospores are produced -spores
are haploid in nature
b)plurilocular or neutral sporangia: these sporangia are multicellular 2n
plants, zoospores are formed in large number which are 2n in ploidy because
they are formed by mitotic division and they on germination produce diploid
plant body
• Because of consistent 2n property they are called as neutral
sporangia. The zoospores have 2 unequal lateral flagella, the
larger one, anterior tinsel and the posterior whiplash.
• C) tetra sporangia: found in only few members, unilocular
sporangia on diploid plants meiotically produce 4 spores which
are 2n in condition out of which 2 will produce male plants and
two will produce female plants.
 Sexual reproduction
• The plant body is haploid except in fucales. Isogamy, anisogamy
and oogamy is seen
• Male sex organs- antheridia(may be uni or multicellular
depending on the orders)
• Female sex organs- oogonia(invariably unicellular)
• Fertilisation may be external as in case of fucus where male and
female gametes are discharged in to water. Internal in case of
laminaria(in situ)
• Ocassionaly parthenogenis can also be seen
 • Alternation of generation is seen between
LIFECYCLE sporophytic and gametophytic stage
• Depending on the size of the plants in 2
generations the life cycle is called
isomorphic and heteromorphic
alternation of generation.
• Fucales exhibit no alternation of
generation, sporophyte bears sex organs
and gametophytic condition is
represented by gametes itself, such
lifecycle is called as cyclosporic life cycyle
 Bibiliography
• Textbook of Botany, B P Pandey
Thank you
SARGASSUSM
OCCURENCE
•Comprised of about 50 species.

•Found in warmer seas of Southern

Hemispere, Australian Sea, Gulf Of
Mexico, Sargasso Sea Of South
Central Atlantic.

•About 12 species are reported in

India both in west coast and south
east coast .
Plant body
•Resembles that of a miniature
angiosperm.

•Main plant body is

sporophyte

•Distinguishable into a
holdfast, main axis, primary
and secondary laterals.
HOLDFAST
The algal body attaches through this appendage to the
substratum. They are short, irregular, thick but
parenchymatous in nature.
Main axis
•May also be called as the stem
of the algal body
•It arises from the holdfast and
grows vertically.
•May be cylindrical or flattened
•They grow to the height of 30
cms.
 Primary laterals
•Primary laterals are the profuse
branching of the main axis.
•Each are of limited growth
•General trend of phyllotaxy-2/5
•Secondary laterals
•They are the further branching of
the primary laterals.
•Vertically flattened and are of
limited growth
•Basal ones are conspicuous
•May have prominent midrib
•They bear cryptostomata
AIR BLADDERS
•Swollen rounded
structure
•They are the
modifications of
secondary laterals
•They help in
buoyancy
RECEPTACLES
•Structures formed at
the time of
reproduction
•They are borne in the
axillary branches
 Internal morphology
• 3 distinct zones
• ASSIMILATORY ZONE
• Represented by photosynthetic cells
• Outer layer- meristoderm- compactly
packed,columnar and outer convex
surface covered with mucilage
• They contain plastid and fucosan
vesicles & are meristematic through
life and hence the name.
• Inner to this region (about 2 layers) is
the hypodermal cells their function is
to manufacture food
 STORAGE ZONE
• Also known as cortex. Represented by
polygonal cells.
• contains reserve food materials and
provide mechanical support to the plants
• In younger plants the outer cells may
have chromatophores which help in
photosynthesis
 Conducting zone (medulla)

• Marked by narrow elongated,

compactly arranged and oblique cell
walls
• Their lateral walls has scalariform
thickenings which are the characteristic
feature of Sargassum
• They are associated with the
transportation of food
 leaf
• More or less similar to that of VS of the
main axis
• Elliptical in shape
• Reduction in cortical cell is seen as
compared to that of the vs of main axis
• Medulla has lesser thickenings
• The outer layer is provided with
cyptostomata or cryptoblast
• These contain sterile conceptacles,these
inturn produce many multicellular
paraphyces which in turn produce
mucilage
 Reproduction
• Vegetative reproduction –fragmentation.
separation commonly occurs accidentally
or by death and decay of older part
separating the younger part of branches
• Sexual reproduction oogamous type
• The male antheridia and female oogonia
are borne in the flask shape structures
called conceptacles which are found in
the receptacles
 Development of Conceptacle
• It arises from a single superficial
flask shaped cell call initial cell
• The initial cell can be distinguished
by its large size prominent nucleus
dense cytoplasm and comparatively
slow rate of division
• it divides by a curved transverse
septum into two unequal cells, the
upper tongue cell and lower basal
cell
• Gradually the lower basal cell sinks
down due to overgrowth of adjoining
cells
• The tongue cell simply elongate and
divides to form a row of few cells &
eventually Disappears at the end
• The basal cell divide by repeated
vertical divisions and lines the base of
conceptacle, that is the cells derived
from the basal cells form the wall
layer of conceptacle except for its
narrow upper portion which is
formed from adjoining tissue
Paraphyces
 STRUCTURE OF MALE CONCEPTACLE
• It appears as a shape structure embedded in
the receptacal tissues and it opens out
through an ostiole which is found little
projected over the surface of receptacle
• Various cell of wall give rise to branched hairs
called paraphyses which consists of nearly
barrel shaped cells with chromatophores.
• Hair near the ostiole are colourless and
densely organised and are called periphyces
• sex organs are borene in conceptacles.
Conceptacles are unisexual bearing either
• Antheridia or oogonia but plants are
monoecious in majority
 THE ANTHERIDIA AND ITS DEVELOPMENT
• It develops from the superficial cell of the male conceptacle. The
initial cell forms a papilla like outgrowth-transverse division -lower
cell and an upper cell.
• The antheridium develops from the upper cell-divides transversely -
lower stalk and and upper antheridial cell.
• The Stalk cell by pushing the first terminal antheridium, grows into
branch on which another antheridium can arise
• The antheridium has a 2n nucleus and few chromatophores . It
increases the in size and its nucleus undergoes repeated divisions
the first being meiotic followed by several mitotic to produce 64
nuclei . each nucleus get surrounded by cytoplasm and at least 1
chromatophore and metamorphoses into a antherozoid
 
• Antheridia are born terminally on the lower portions of
branched paraphyses.
• Mature antheridia are ovoid in shape and are Pushed laterally, it
is two layered( outer exochite and inner gelatinous endochite)
• It is detached at the stage of 64 antherozoids to water current
and emerges out of the conceptacle through ostiole and float on
surface of water simultaneously antheridial wall gelatinises and
antherozoids are liberated
• Each antherozoid is pear shaped with laterally inserted flagella
which are two in number and unequal
 Oogonia & Its Development
• It develops from any superficial cell wall of the female conceptacle the
cell behaves like an oogonial initial
• it enlarges in size and accumulates reserve food material and divides
transfers wall into a lower small stalk cell and an upper large oogonial
cell.
• The nucleus of oogonial cell undergoes meiotic followed by mitotic
division as a result eight haploid nuclei are formed of which one comes
to centre and survives
• Others arrange on the peripheral side and degenerate
• The surviving nucleus enlarges and functions as the female
nucleus ,surrounded by the cytoplasm – this whole structure is ovum
 Structure of oogonium

• It is rounded sessile and is embedded in the tissue of

conceptacle. in young stage, it is filled with dense cytoplasm
reserve food material and oil.
• The wall of the ogonium becomes differentiated outer Exochite
middle Mesochite and inner endochite
 FERTILIZATION
• Deliberated antherozoids swim towards
• oogonia and each oo bhaigonium get surrounded by several
antherozoids which get attached to it by anterior flagella
posterior flagella moves in the sea water the nucleus of the
antherozoid fuses with the the nucleus of the oogonium form
zygote thus fertilization takes place while ovum still in the
oogonium
 ZYGOTE AND ITS GERMINATION
• Zygote begins to germinate
while it is still in the oogonium
and without undergoing any
resting period.
• zygote is liberated by the
gelatinisation of oogonial wall
and rest s on some
substratum ,divides by a
transverse wall into an upper
and lower cell.
• Of these, lower cell elongates
and forms several rhizoidal
processes and the upper one
gives rise to diploid erect
plant.
 LIFE CYCLE-ALTERNATION OF GENERATION
• Sargassum shows a typical cyclosporean kind of life
cycle, main plant body is diploid
• The reproductive structures are born on a specialised
receptacle which bears antheridia or oogonia in flask
shaped cavities called conceptacles
• Meiosis occurs at the time of differentiation of
gametes, both the gametes fuse to form zygote which
is again 2n and grows into a young plant
• Thus gametophytic generation is completely
suppressed. No morphological organisation of
gametophyte is seen. Gamete is representative of
gametophytic phase
• Hence Sargassum has no morphologically
differentiated alternation of generation. But
cytological differentiation is seen.