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Green Algae

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The Algae World

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 26))

Abstract

‘Green algae’ includes a diverse assemblage of photosynthetic organisms from which the embryophytes (land plants) emerged. They are widely present in freshwater environments but some forms are also present in marine, brackish water and terrestrial habitats. The group includes unicellular and colonial planktons, multicellular, filamentous forms and macroscopic thallus with well differentiated tissues. All green algae are eukaryotes with an organised cell nucleus and plastids (chloroplasts containing abundant pigments- chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, various carotenes and xanthophyll). Fritsch has included all green algae in a single class Chlorophyceae on the basis of their occurrence, structure, nature of photosynthesizing pigment, type of reserve food material and method of reproduction. After learning the form and function of green algae it is important to appreciate the roles that green algae play in our world and how they affect the environment and lives of man, animals and plants. Green algae have played an important role in the global ecosystem for hundreds of millions of years. Practical utilization of green algae includes a diverse array of fields including food and pharmaceuticals, agriculture, wastewater treatment, as environmental indicators, in reducing CO2 emissions, in renewable energy production and environmental bioremediation.

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Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Dr. Frederik Leliaert for his valuable suggestions towards the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Hindu College, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Mani Arora

  2. Marine Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Dinabandhu Sahoo

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  1. Mani Arora
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  2. Dinabandhu Sahoo
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Correspondence to Mani Arora .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

    Dinabandhu Sahoo

  2. The Hebrew Univ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

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Arora, M., Sahoo, D. (2015). Green Algae. In: Sahoo, D., Seckbach, J. (eds) The Algae World. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 26. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7321-8_4

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