Algae & Fungi

Red tides caused by dinoflagellate

Hello everyone! For this post, I would like to share about what I have learnt in the subtopic of Algae and Fungi. First of all, algae can be divided into 7 divisions which is chrysophyta, euglenophyta, pyrrhophyta, charophyta, chlorophyta, phaeophyta and rhodophyta. The habitat of algae is fresh water, marine and brackish. Motile algae is due to the presence of flagella. The distribution of algae can be either primarily aquatic (planktonic, benthic or neustonic) or terrestrial. 

Brown algae

The types of reproduction of algae can be classified into fragmentation, binary fission, spores and fusion of eggs and sperms (to form zygote). Did you know that algae is one of the human food source? For example, seaweed. Seaweed can be used to make sushi! Who likes to eat sushi? Raise your hands!! By the way, I love Sakae Sushi :) Alginic acid from brown algae can be used as thickening (eg: ice cream), stabilizing and emulsifying purposes. Carrageenan from red algae is similar to agar. Algae also is commonly used as polishing compounds. 

Slime molds

There are three divisions of slime molds which are myxomycota, acrasiomycota, and peronosporomycetes. Some functions of molds are recycling of nutrients, cause disease in plants, as decomposer and consumer in the ecosystem and engulf bacteria (as predator). 

Okay, let's move to the next one, fungi! Fungi is widely used in fermentation process, production of antibiotics, certain drugs and organic acids. The vegetative structure of a fungus is called thallus. There are 5 types of fungi generally which are chytrids, zygote, sac, club and microsporidia. They reproduce sexually and asexually. The primary storage of fungi is glycogen. They do not have chlorophyll but they have a rigid cell wall (chitin). Fungi can cause athletes food, ring worm and yeast infections.

Fungi + Algae = Lichen. Lichen is an association of a fungus and a photosynthetic symbiont resulting in a stable thallus of specific structure. It may grow in extreme conditions (eg; arctic area). They are sensitive to environmental toxins, so they serve as indicator of the ecological health of an area. Lichen has 3 types. They are folicose lichens(leaf-like), fructicose lichens (threadlike) and crustose lichens (flat surface). 

I think the syllabus for matriculations is quite different from this one. There are a lots of new terms. I need to study more --'