Green algae are photosynthetic eukaryotes with simple plastids (derived from primary endosymbiosis) that are mostly microscopic and rarely more than a meter in greatest dimension. The approximate 6,000 extant species show an enormous diversity of growth habit and fine details of their cellular architecture. Green algae occur as unicellular or colonial, microscopic or macroscopic, motile planktonic, as well as benthic attached forms. Some (e.g., Dasycladales) are important carbonate producers in aquatic environments, others live in symbiotic associations with fungi to form lichens in terrestrial settings. Green algae living as endosymbionts inside heterotrophic organisms are a common phenomenon. The order Charales, in which full tissue differentiation occurs, is considered to include the closest relative of higher plants. For details, please refer to entry “ Algae (Eukaryotic) .”
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Reitner, J., Thiel, V. (2011). Green Algae. In: Reitner, J., Thiel, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geobiology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_230
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9212-1_230
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