Lecture 5: Algae Flashcards
Where is photosynthesis widespread?
Photosynthesis is widespread (polyphyletic) in Eukaryotes
What are algae?
Algae are photosynthetic eukaryotes other than land plants
Describe most algae
- Most algae are aquatic (both freshwater and marine)
2. Many are unicellular
Describe most multicellular species
Most multicellular species produce bodies in which all cells are in contact with the environment (simple multicellularity)
What two things are closely related? What is the group they form called?
Plants and green algae are closely related and together form a monophyletic group.
What features of land plants are present in some green algae?
Many of the…
1) key physiological
2) structural features
of land plants are present in some green algae
The ____________, ______________, and _________ are the green algae most closely related to land plants.
1) Charales
2) Coleochaetales
3) Zygnematales
What do the Charles, coleochaetales, and zygnematales all have?
1) All occur in freshwater
2) All have a haplontic life cycle
3) All produce sporopollenin in the cell walls of the zygote
What are the six features found in the green algae and in plants that are thought to have played a role in the transition to land?
Great POMPS
1) The use of the enzyme Glycolate oxidase in photoresipiration
2) Phragmoplast
3) Oogamy
4) Matrotrophy
5) Plasmodesmata
6) Sporopollenin
What is oogamy?
Oogamy is a mode of fertilization where a nonflagellated gamete (the egg) is fertilized by a flagellated gamete, as in humans
What is matrotrophy?
Matrotrophy is the retention of the fertilized egg (the zygote) and supply of “maternal” care to it
What is sporopollenin?
Sporopollenin is a complex polymer hat serves a protective function
What is the phragmoplast?
The phragmoplast is the cytoskeletal structure responsible for the deposition of the cell plate
What are plasmodesmata?
Plasmodesmata are microscopic channels that allow communication between cells
What is glycolate oxidase?
Glycolate oxidase increases the efficiency with which 2-Carbon molecules produced during photorespiration are recycled
What is a phylogeny?
A phylogeny is a starting point of the evolutionary diversification of plants and a way to organize information about the past
A hypothesis of the evolutionary relationships among species or other entities
What does a node indicate?
A node indicates the last common ancestor
What does monophyletic mean?
A group consisting of all the descendants of a common ancestor
- MUST all have the SAME last common ancestor
What is a paraphyletic group?
A paraphyletic group includes some, but NOT all, descendants
When are paraphyletic groups useful?
Paraphyletic groups can be useful when they refer to organisms that are functionally similar
- For example, Turtles, Lizards, and Crocodiles are not all descendants but are functionally similar
Within a Eukaryotic tree, which relationships are unresolved?
the deepest relationships are unresolved (polygamy)
- It’s therefore harder to know who’s related to who
What is polygamy?
a flat line indicating we don’t know the relationship
What are algae?
Algae is an informal term for photosynthetic eukaryotes that are not “land plans” and are typically aquatic
- polyphyletic
What is polyphyletic?
when you group an organism by characteristics
Describe rhodophyta
- Red Algae
- Mostly multicellular
- Chlorophyll (a & c) and phycobilins (red pigment)
- Some crustose red algae grow at a depth of 250 meters