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Algae can be used to capture fertilizers in runoff from farms. When subsequently harvested, the enriched algae can be used as fertilizer. Aquaria and ponds can be filtered using algae, which absorb nutrients from the water in a device called an algae scrubber, also known as an algae turf scrubber. [129] [130]
Phycology (from Ancient Greek φῦκος (phûkos) 'seaweed' and -λογία 'study of') is the scientific study of algae. Also known as algology, phycology is a branch of life science. Algae are important as primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. Most algae are eukaryotic, photosynthetic organisms
Algae constitute a polyphyletic group since they do not include a common ancestor, and although their chlorophyll-bearing plastids seem to have a single origin (from symbiogenesis with cyanobacteria), they were acquired in different ways. Green algae are a prominent examples of algae that have primary chloroplasts derived from endosymbiont ...
Algae is an informal term for a widespread and diverse group of photosynthetic protists which are not necessarily closely related and are thus polyphyletic. Marine algae can be divided into six groups: green , red and brown algae , euglenophytes , dinoflagellates and diatoms .
The ochrophytes are mostly photosynthetic. As such, they may possess one or more photosynthetic plastids (chloroplasts) per cell. [14] Some groups contain species with leucoplasts, chloroplasts that have lost photosynthetic capacity and pigments but presumably continue to play a role in the synthesis of amino acids, lipids and heme groups. [10]
Photosynthetic organisms with plastids of different origin (such as brown algae) do not belong to the Archaeplastida. The archaeplastidans fall into two main evolutionary lines. The red algae are pigmented with chlorophyll a and phycobiliproteins , like most cyanobacteria, and accumulate starch outside the chloroplasts.
Green algae are often classified with their embryophyte descendants in the green plant clade Viridiplantae (or Chlorobionta). Viridiplantae, together with red algae and glaucophyte algae, form the supergroup Primoplantae, also known as Archaeplastida or Plantae sensu lato. The ancestral green alga was a unicellular flagellate. [20]
The silicoflagellates (order Dictyochales) are a small group of unicellular photosynthetic protists, or algae, belonging to the supergroup of eukaryotes known as Stramenopiles. They behave as plankton and are present in oceanic waters. They are well-known from harmful algal blooms that cause high mortality of fish.