Algae application in industry. Algae and their importance

Algae - planktonic and benthic, terrestrial and soil - play a great role in nature and human life. Together with other aquatic plants, they produce about 80% of the total mass of organic substances formed on Earth. Among them, planktonic ones are the most productive due to their ability to reproduce quickly.

Terrestrial algae often act as pioneers of vegetation, settling on barren areas of land: rocks and sands. In symbiosis with fungi, algae form unique organisms - lichens.

Algae are one of the oldest organisms inhabiting our planet. Land plants originated from them. By enriching the atmosphere with oxygen, they made it possible for a diverse world of animals to exist and contributed to the development of aerobic bacteria.

Thanks to the activity of algae, an ozone shield has appeared in the atmosphere, protecting the Earth from radiation. Organic substances created by algae during photosynthesis became food for bacteria and animals, in particular fish.

Algae take part in the cycle of substances in nature, in improving the gas regime of water bodies and in the formation of sapropel deposits (organic sludge).

Thickets of large algae serve to shelter and breed many coastal animals and small algae.

Thick layers of rocks were formed from algae:

• In Cretaceous rocks, 95% of fragments of the shells of some golden algae;
• Diatomites consist of 50-80% shells of diatoms.

The significant role of algae in the formation of reefs in the seas and oceans. Thus, in the reefs of the Fiji Islands in the Pacific Ocean there are almost 3 times more algae than corals.

The importance of algae in human life

Algae are widely used in human life. Many of them have long been used by humans for food (kelp, porphyry), for livestock feed, and as fertilizers.

Diatomites are used in the food, chemical, pharmaceutical industries, and construction.

Brown algae are raw materials for the production of alginates (salts of alginic acid), which are used in a wide variety of industries. Thus, sodium alginate produces glue, which is used in textile production, for sizing paper, and cement bonding. Sodium alginate films applied to concrete structures, metals, machine tools, and wood protect them from corrosion, rotting, and destruction.

Red algae (phylophora) is used to produce agar used in microbiology and the confectionery industry. Green plants (cladophora, rhizoclonium) are used to make paper.

Some types of algae have healing properties and are used in medicine (kelp, medicinal mud with blue-green algae, iodine production).

Many algae are bioindicators in the sanitary-biological assessment of waters or perform the function of active health workers in polluted water bodies.

In a number of countries, algae are grown in artificial reservoirs for the industrial production of organic matter.

However, algae can also play a negative role. Thus, when they multiply en masse in water bodies, they cause water to “bloom,” rendering it unusable, pollute pumping stations and water pipelines, and some species grow on the bottoms of ships and buoys, impairing their operation.

). They are found everywhere: in seas and oceans, in fresh water bodies, on moist soil and on the bark of trees.

Rice. 1. Representatives of the subkingdom: Algae (Algae) Among algae there are unicellular, multicellular () and colonial organisms. The cells of some algae contain many nuclei, others do not contain intercellular partitions. Cell membranes usually consist of cellulose. Cells (similar to plant cells) can be connected at their ends, forming chains or threads, sometimes branched. The conducting system and roots are absent; motionless forms are attached to the bottom by branched outgrowths - rhizoids. The size of algae varies from fractions of a micron ( coccolithophores and some diatoms) to giant ones such as macrocystis reaching up to 40 meters in length.

Rice. 2. The structure of multicellular algae. On the left is a cell of filamentous spirogyra, on the right is Fucus vesicularis Many solitary and colonial algae are capable of movement. Some algae use 1 or 2 flagella ( ) to move. Others crawl like amoebas, sometimes squeezing and sometimes stretching parts of their body. The movement of the third is due to water currents created by the cytoplasm.

Algae are autotrophic in their feeding method and contain the green pigment chlorophyll, but some of them are capable of heterotrophy (feeding on ready-made organic matter), such as osmotrophic (cell surface), for example. Flagellates, and by ingestion through the cellular mouth (Euglenaceae, Dinophytes). Algae are not only green in color: among them you can find specimens of brown, red, yellow and many other tones. The pigment is located in the algae cell in a special ribbon- or star-shaped organelle called a chromatophore.

Algae do not form flowers or seeds; Most of them multiply disputes. Spores and gametes are formed either in ordinary cells or in special organs - gametangia(male - in antheridia, female - in oogonia or archegonia); Some of them have spores and gametes with flagella. Sexual processes are very diverse: these are isogamy(male and female gametes are the same), anisogamy(both gametes are mobile, but differ in size) or oogamy(the female gamete is immobile and much larger than the male one). The zygote develops immediately or after a period of rest. In primitive algae, both spores and gametes are produced by the same individual; in more highly developed individuals, the functions of sexual and asexual reproduction are performed by different individuals - sporophytes And gametophytes. The latter can germinate simultaneously and under the same conditions, in different places or in different seasons. In higher algae there is an alternation of generations; in this case, either the gametophyte germinates on the sporophyte, or vice versa. In addition, it is common asexual reproduction– division in two (unicellular algae), or vegetatively – by parts of the thallus or buds.

Rice. 3. The structure of unicellular algae. On the left is Euglena green, on the right is Chlamydomonas Algae are predominantly aquatic creatures that live in both sea and fresh water. Small free-floating algae are part of plankton; others attach to the bottom, sometimes forming entire thickets. Most of them live at depths of up to 40 m; with good water transparency, they can be found at a depth of up to 200 m. In stagnant reservoirs, well warmed by the sun, water blooms are observed. Algae live in the soil, on trees and rocks. Some green algae symbiote with fungi to form lichens.

Algae are the main source of organic matter on Earth (more than 80% of the total biomass created per year); Almost all aquatic ecological chains begin with them. They release into the atmosphere more than half of the total amount of oxygen released by plants per year and are the main food for many marine animals; some are eaten by humans. In coastal areas, algae is used for fertilizer and livestock feed.

Algae are also one of the longest-living inhabitants, for example, the algae Clathromorphum compactum found off the Aleutian coast was about 800 years old.

2. Origin of representatives of the subkingdom Algae

Due to the absence of hard parts in most algae, the study of their evolution is difficult and much of their origin is not yet completely clear. Fossil forms of the main groups of algae have been known since Paleozoic. Indirect evidence of their existence is the presence of marine animals that were supposed to feed on organic matter. Apparently, there were no major fluctuations in the abundance and species diversity of algae. It is assumed to exist in Precambrian at least three groups of phototrophic prokaryotes that used water as an electron donor:

• • • Cyanobacteria, like chloroplasts, contain chlorophyll A and release oxygen during photosynthesis.
• Green prokaryotes possessing chlorophyll B. It is assumed that they gave rise to plastids of green algae and euglena.
• Yellow prokaryotes, possessing chlorophyll C, gave rise to plastids of dinoflagellates, golden algae, diatoms, and brown algae.

Rice. 4. The underwater world of the Archean and early Proterozoic The emergence of eukaryotic algae is represented as the result of a series of endosymbioses between prokaryotes. Plastids of green and red algae appeared as a result of the symbiosis of phagotrophic eukaryotes and phototrophic prokaryotes. Therefore, their plastids have an inner shell (prokaryotic cell membrane) and an outer shell (vacuole membrane).

Greens And red algae appeared about 3 billion years ago ( ). Originally appeared unicellular, and then - colonial seaweed. Appeared about a billion years ago multicellular seaweed. Among green algae, forms have been preserved, a number of which give an idea of ​​the complexity of organization with the emergence of multicellularity in plants: chlamydomonas(1-cell), gonium(4-cell), stephanosphere(8-cell), pandorina(16-cell), Eudorina(32-cell), Volvox(40 thousand somatic and generative cells).

The main features of the evolution of algae:

3. Systematics of algae

Currently known more 100 thousand species of algae. Blue-green algae belong to prokaryotes. Most likely, they are not the ancestors of real algae, however, they may have entered the plant cell as symbionts, turning into chloroplasts. The remaining algae are divided into ten departments. The division of algae into groups mainly coincides with the nature of their color, which, in turn, is associated with a set of pigments, and is also based on general structural features. With this approach, 10 groups of algae are distinguished: blue-green (Cyanophita), pyrophyta (Pyrrophyta), golden (Chrysophyta), diatoms (Bacillariophyta), yellow-green (Xanthophyta), brown (Phaeophyta), , red (Rhodophyta), Euglena (Euglenophyta), green (Chlorophyta) And Characeae (Charophyta).

4. Cytology

As mentioned above, algae cells are quite typical for (,). Very similar to cells (mosses, mosses, pteridophytes, gymnosperms and flowering plants). The main differences are at the biochemical level (various photosynthetic and masking pigments, storage substances, cell wall bases, etc.) and in cytokinesis (the process of cell division).

Photosynthetic(and “masking” them) pigments are located in special plastids - chloroplasts. A chloroplast has two (red, green, charophyte algae), three (euglena, dinoflagellates) or four (ochrophyte algae) membranes. He also has his own highly reduced genetic apparatus, which suggests that he symbiogenesis(origin from a captured prokaryote). The inner membrane bulges inward, forming folds - thylakoids, collected in piles - lamellae: monothylakoid in red and blue-green, two- or more in green and charov, trithylakoid in the rest. The thylakoids, in fact, are where the pigments are located. Chloroplasts in algae have different shapes (small disc-shaped, spiral-shaped, cup-shaped, star-shaped, etc.).

Rice. 5. A peculiar “island” of brown algae in the Sargasso Sea Many chloroplasts have dense formations - pyrenoids.

The products of photosynthesis, which are currently surplus, are stored in the form of various reserve substances: starch, glycogen, others polysaccharides, lipids. The storage of lipids is more characteristic of marine forms (especially planktonic diatoms, which, due to oil, stay afloat with their heavy shell), and the storage of polysaccharides (including starch and glycogen) is more characteristic of freshwater ones.

Algal cells (with the exception of the amoeboid type) are covered with a cell wall and/or cell membrane. The wall is on the outside of the cell membrane, usually containing a structural component (for example, cellulose) and an amorphous matrix (for example, pectins or agar substances); it may also have additional layers (for example, the sporopollenin layer in chlorella). The cell membrane is either an external silicone shell (in diatoms and some other ochrophytes), or a compacted upper layer of cytoplasm (plasmalemma), in which there may be additional structures, for example, vesicles, empty or with cellulose plates (a kind of shell, theca, in dinoflagellates). If the cell membrane is plastic, the cell may be capable of so-called metabolic movement - sliding due to a slight change in body shape.

4. Ecological groups of algae

5. The role of algae in nature and human life

Role in biogeocenoses

Algae are the main producers of organic substances in the aquatic environment. About 80% of all organic matter created on earth each year comes from algae and other aquatic plants. Algae directly or indirectly provide a source of food for all aquatic animals. Rocks are known (diatomites, oil shale, some limestones) that arose as a result of the activity of algae in past geological eras. Algae are involved in the formation of medicinal mud.

Food use

Rice. 7. Thickets of kelp or seaweed Some, mainly marine ones, are eaten (seaweed (), porphyra, ulva). In coastal areas, algae is used as livestock feed and fertilizer. In a number of countries, algae are cultivated to produce large amounts of biomass, which is used as livestock feed and used in the food industry.

Edible seaweed - rich in minerals, especially iodine, product - used in East Asian cuisines. One of the most popular dishes with seaweed is sushi.

Water treatment

Many algae are an important component of the biological wastewater treatment process. If any of them are placed in a river or any other water, it will soon become purest.

Biotesting

Algae are one of the most widely used biological objects in biotesting of chemicals and samples of natural and polluted waters.

In the pharmaceutical industry

The following are obtained from algae: jelly- and mucus-forming substances - agar-agar (Ahnfeltia, Gelidium), agaroids (Phyllophora, Gracilaria), carrageenan (Chondrous, Gigartina, Furcelaria), alginates (kelp and fucus), feed flour containing trace elements and iodine.

Chemical industry

Rice. 8. Chlorella Man uses seaweed in the chemical industry. Potassium salts, cellulose, alcohol, and acetic acid are obtained from them.

Biofuel

Due to the high rate of reproduction, algae are used to obtain biomass for fuel.

In research papers

Algae are widely used in experimental research to solve problems of photosynthesis and elucidate the role of the nucleus and other components of the cell.

Ecohouse

Attempts are being made to use some fast-growing and unpretentious algae (for example, chlorella (), which quickly and in large quantities synthesizes proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and quite completely absorbs substances secreted by humans and animals) to create a cycle of substances in the habitable compartments of a spacecraft .

Algae are plants and therefore carry out the process of photosynthesis. As a result of photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is absorbed and oxygen is released, which is necessary for living organisms to breathe. Thus, algae saturate water bodies and air with oxygen. Since they can be considered the first plants on Earth, at that time they played a large role in the formation of an atmosphere containing relatively large amounts of oxygen. This contributed to the further evolution of living organisms.

Algae primarily live in freshwater bodies of water, seas and oceans. They need light for photosynthesis, so they cannot grow at great depths. But despite this, all food chains in water bodies begin with algae. They synthesize large amounts of organic matter, which all freshwater and marine animals feed on, either directly (by eating algae) or indirectly (by eating other animals).

Many freshwater algae cleanse water bodies of pollution. This contributes to the conservation of aquatic biological communities.

The presence of algae is a necessary condition for the normal life of reservoirs.

Fish and other aquatic animals feed on algae. Algae absorb carbon dioxide from water and, like all green plants, release oxygen, which not only dissolves in water (and is breathed by living organisms living in water), but is also released into the atmosphere.

The importance of algae in human life

Every year people eat several million tons of algae. These are mainly brown algae, and primarily seaweed. It contains many nutrients and beneficial substances, in particular iodine compounds, necessary to ensure normal metabolism in the human body.

The well-known sweets, marshmallows or marmalade, are made on the basis of agar (or agar-agar), a jelly-like substance. It is obtained from the red algae phylophora, which is found in the Black and Azov Seas. However, the largest amount of agar is used in the microbiological industry: on its basis, artificial nutrient media are made for growing beneficial bacteria and fungi. Various organic acids, alcohols, vitamins, dyes, adhesives, iodine and other drugs are obtained from algae, mainly brown and red.

Algae are used in the biological method of purifying polluted waters. To do this, wastewater from enterprises is settled in reservoirs connected in series, in each of which certain organisms, including various types of algae, absorb harmful substances from the water. For example, Chlamydomonas is able to select organic substances dissolved in it from water, which contributes to the self-purification processes of polluted water bodies.

Dead algae settle at the bottom of reservoirs, forming organic sludge. It is widely used in agriculture as a fertilizer.

Mass reproduction of single-celled green algae and some other algae causes “water blooms”. At the same time, the reservoirs become green. In Ukraine, water blooms occur annually, for example, in the reservoirs of the Dnieper cascade. Together with other organisms, settling on the underwater parts of ships and hydraulic structures (for example, locks), multicellular algae disrupt their normal functioning.

From some red algae that live in tropical seas, substances necessary for the production of high-quality ice cream and special varieties of lipstick are obtained. In South Asian countries, they are grown artificially in certain areas of the seabed.

Some marine mollusks feed on algae: in this case, the chloroplasts are not digested, but end up in the gills. In the light, photosynthesis occurs in them, during which so much oxygen is formed that it not only meets the needs of the mollusk for respiration, but also partially enters the water.

The sludge formed by the remains of diatoms is called diatomite. It is dried and impregnated with certain substances. This is how explosives are obtained - dynamite, invented at the end of the 19th century by the Swedish engineer Nobel. He bequeathed part of the profits from the production of explosives to support the most prominent writers, scientists and politicians. This is how the well-known Nobel Prize was born.

Along the shores of fresh water bodies you can often see clusters of yellow-green balls up to several millimeters in diameter. If you dig up such a ball, carefully wash it from dirt and examine it under a microscope, you can see that it has branched colorless outgrowths below - rhizoids, with the help of which the plant is fixed in the soil. This plant is called Botridium granulosa. But we will not notice individual cells of this plant, since the entire ball of algae, together with rhizoids, is a single cell with numerous nuclei. In marine species, such multinucleated cells can reach several tens of centimeters in length.

Brown algae contains a special substance. Its ability to glue different objects is almost 40 times higher than that of regular office glue. This substance is used to impregnate waterproof fabrics and in the production of cardboard.

Seaweed contains various vitamins, mineral salts, iodine and bromine compounds. Therefore, their constant use in food prevents various metabolic disorders. In Japan, seaweed is an indispensable component of the national cuisine: over 500 dishes are made from kelp alone.

Red seaweeds of the genus Coralline were found at the maximum depth for plants - 268 m.

Main article: Algae

Algae are of great importance in the biosphere. This is facilitated by their widespread distribution. Thanks to their ability to photosynthesize, they create a huge amount of organic substances in water bodies that are used by aquatic animals. In other words, algae are feeders for aquatic animals. Algae are a source of oxygen. By absorbing carbon dioxide from water, algae saturate it with oxygen, necessary for all living organisms.

Chlorella is of great importance in nature and human economic activity. Rapid reproduction and high intensity of photosynthesis (about 3-5 times higher than in plants) lead to the fact that the mass of chlorella increases more than 10 times per day. At the same time, proteins (up to 50% of the dry mass of the cell), sugars, fats, vitamins, etc. accumulate in the cells. Chlorella is grown on an industrial scale in special installations (Fig. 40).

Algae serve as raw materials for the production of valuable organic substances: alcohols, varnishes, organic acids, iodine. Special substances are also obtained from algae, on the basis of which high-quality glue is made. These substances are used in the textile and paper industries to give paper density and gloss.

Agar-agar is obtained from seaweed. It is used as a solid medium on which mushrooms and bacteria are grown with the addition of certain nutrients. Agar-agar is used in large quantities in the food industry in the production of marmalade, pastilles, ice cream and other products.

Humans use algae for food. Laminaria is best known as a nutritional, therapeutic and preventive remedy. It is known as seaweed (Fig. 41). Sea kale is used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, thyroid diseases, rickets, etc. Material from the site http://wiki-med.com

Laminaria is used as livestock feed as a food additive containing many chemical elements, including large amounts of iodine. Therefore, it is used to obtain iodine and carbohydrates, which are also used in the food, medical and microbiological industries.

Algae can cause harm to human economic activity. Their excessive reproduction in reclamation canals and fish ponds can lead to algal blooms, fish kills, death of other aquatic organisms, and makes it difficult to catch fish. Abundant growth of algae interferes with the passage of ships in navigable water bodies. Therefore, canals and reservoirs have to be periodically cleared of algae.

• how are algae used by humans?

• kelp algae role in nature and for humans

• use of algae in the food industry

• the use of algae in pharmacology medicine briefly

• What are the consequences of excessive production of algae by humans in the White Sea?

Questions for this article:

• Some algae can be used in confined spaces to regulate the gas composition of the air. What property of algae do you think this is based on?

Main article: Algae

In nature, algae absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, creating nutrients for aquatic animals. Algae are used by humans in the food, pharmaceutical and perfume industries.

The importance of algae in nature

Algae are of great importance in the biosphere.

This is facilitated by their widespread distribution. Thanks to their ability to photosynthesize, they create a huge amount of organic substances in water bodies that are used by aquatic animals.

In other words, algae are feeders for aquatic animals.

Algae are a source of oxygen. By absorbing carbon dioxide from water, algae saturate it with oxygen, necessary for all living organisms.

Many algae (Euglena, Chlamydomonas, etc.) are attracted by active cleaners of polluted water bodies, including economic and domestic wastewater from city sewers.

In the geological past of the Earth, algae played an important role in the formation of chalk rocks, limestones, reefs, special varieties of coal, and were the ancestors of plants that colonized the land.

The importance of algae in human life

Algae are extremely widely used in various areas of human economic activity, including the food, pharmaceutical and perfume industries.

Chlorella is of great importance in nature and human economic activity.

Rapid reproduction and high intensity of photosynthesis (about 3-5 times higher than in plants) lead to the fact that the mass of chlorella increases more than 10 times per day.

At the same time, proteins (up to 50% of the dry mass of the cell), sugars, fats, vitamins, etc. accumulate in the cells. Chlorella is grown on an industrial scale in special installations (Fig. 40).

Chlorella's ability to intensively absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen during photosynthesis makes it possible to use it to restore air in confined spaces, for example, on space stations and submarines.

Algae serve as raw materials for the production of valuable organic substances: alcohols, varnishes, organic acids, iodine.

Special substances are also obtained from algae, on the basis of which high-quality glue is made. These substances are used in the textile and paper industries to give paper density and gloss.

Agar-agar is obtained from seaweed. It is used as a solid medium on which mushrooms and bacteria are grown with the addition of certain nutrients.

Agar-agar is used in large quantities in the food industry in the production of marmalade, pastilles, ice cream and other products.

Humans use algae for food. Laminaria is best known as a nutritional, therapeutic and preventive remedy. It is known as seaweed (Fig.

41). Sea kale is used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, thyroid diseases, rickets, etc. Material from the site http://wiki-med.com

Laminaria is used as livestock feed as a food additive containing many chemical elements, including large amounts of iodine.

Therefore, it is used to obtain iodine and carbohydrates, which are also used in the food, medical and microbiological industries.

In agriculture, algae are used as organic fertilizers for some plants (Fig. 42).

Algae can cause harm to human economic activity. Their excessive reproduction in reclamation canals and fish ponds can lead to algal blooms, fish kills, death of other aquatic organisms, and makes it difficult to catch fish.

Abundant growth of algae interferes with the passage of ships in navigable water bodies. Therefore, canals and reservoirs have to be periodically cleared of algae.

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• how algae can regulate air composition

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• algae in natural

Questions for this article:

• Some algae can be used in confined spaces to regulate the gas composition of the air.

  What property of algae do you think this is based on?

• What consequences could result from the death of all algae in all bodies of water?

Material from the site http://Wiki-Med.com

Algae there are more than 40 thousand species on earth. These are the most common plants on earth. Our life would definitely be different without them. And it's not just that they produce most of all the oxygen on our planet. The widespread distribution of algae in nature determines the enormous importance of these plants in human life and in their economic activities.

For example, they eat algae.

Freshwater and terrestrial algae are practically not consumed as food, but most marine species are considered quite edible.

Of course, a lot depends on the habits and culinary traditions of different peoples, but with appropriate processing, many species are valued not only for their dietary and medicinal properties, but also turn out to be very pleasant to the taste.
Poisonous algae are practically not found, so only those that are too coarse and tasteless are considered unsuitable.

The most famous algae is the so-called seaweed.

Salads are prepared from it, added to all kinds of soups, and used as a side dish for fish and meat. In addition, it turns out to be an important ingredient in the preparation of sweets, marshmallows, marmalade and even ice cream.

Some red algae are also highly valued for their delicate taste. They are even eaten raw. They contain more than enough vitamins and other nutrients. Thus, it has been absolutely proven that algae contains vitamins A, B, C and D, as well as iodine, bromine and many other substances important for the health of our body.

For a long time, these plants served as the main source of iodine.

Algae thalli ground into powder are used in the manufacture of fertilizers and feed additives for domestic animals.
With appropriate processing, a special glue is obtained from algae, which is used in the textile industry and in construction. It is added to mortar and building materials to increase their strength and water resistance.

In addition, substances obtained from algae give density and glossy shine to paper and fabrics.

Recently, scientists have been exploring the possibility of using microscopic blue-green algae as fertilizers, which accumulate in huge quantities in water bodies during the seasonal “bloom”. However, if you do not start growing them artificially, then the frequency of such mass reproduction turns out to be a serious obstacle.

Nevertheless, work in this direction is underway, since the possibilities for the practical use of algae are far from being exhausted.

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Algae is a collective name for aquatic plants, primitive in structure, without differentiation into tissues and organs. Algae are unicellular (Chlamydomonas, Volvox, Chlorella, etc.) and multicellular (Ulva, kelp, Sargassum, etc.).

Practical uses of algae

Algae play a huge role in aquatic ecosystems. Like all autotrophic organisms, they are the basis of the food chain, providing oxygen not only to the water column, but also to the atmosphere (algae are the second “lungs of the planet”, after forests). They also actively participate in the self-purification of water bodies. Thanks to algae, which were widespread in past geological eras, oil, gas, coal, chalk and other minerals were formed.

Algae are widely used in various sectors of human economic activity, including the food, pharmaceutical and perfume industries.

Many algae contain a number of vitamins and beneficial microelements, for which they are actively used in food and as medicine.

Algae are organisms that live by photosynthesis.

Thanks to the chlorophyll present in their cells, they can create their organic body from the inorganic matter that is in their environment.

And for the process of photosynthesis to proceed freely, it requires light. In order to capture sunlight even at the greatest depths, algae have different colors: from bright green to dark burgundy, almost black.

1. How algae work.

Algae are very diverse in their structure. They can be very small, microscopic in size (unicellular algae), and there are giant algae with very different shapes of their structure. Near Spain, near the Balearic Islands, at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, the world's largest plant was found - the 8-kilometer-long algae Poseidonia.

In addition to its unique size, this plant also has a unique age. The algae found is 100 thousand years old.

There are algae that are very simple in structure; they don’t even have a nucleus. In this way they are very similar to bacteria.

There are also unicellular algae that can move using flagella.

This was the reason for including them in the animal world.

The color of algae can be either green, if they contain only chlorophyll, or acquire a wide variety of shades due to the inclusion of other coloring pigments. It turns out that not all plants in water are algae. It is the algae that we may not notice in a pond, because some of them are so small that they are difficult to see without a microscope.

Algae habitats.

Sometimes algae choose very unusual (from a human point of view) habitats. In lakes it is easy to notice the well-known mud; it attaches to the very bottom and forms massive green thickets.

There are also large specimens that look like curly threads or horsetail. They are clearly visible without magnifying devices. This is also algae.

No less than in water, a wide variety of microalgae live on the land surface. They are found deep in the soil and on the surface itself, for example, on stones and trees.

Of course, their whole life is still dependent on water, but they only use other water: dew or groundwater, or rainfall. “Land” algae are more resistant to drought than “aquatic” ones, and at the slightest contact with moisture they quickly recover.

In the tropics, they can take up residence in tea leaves, causing a tea bush disease called tea rust. In mid-latitudes they live on the bark of trees.

It looks like a green coating on the north side of the trees. Green algae enter into mutually beneficial coexistence with fungi, resulting in the appearance of a special independent organism called lichen. Some green algae have chosen a turtle shell for their home. Many algae live on the surface and inside their larger counterparts. Red and green algae are found in the hair follicles of the tropical animal sloths.

They did not ignore crustaceans and fish, coelenterates and flatworms.

3. Green algae.

Green algae are green organisms, they vary in structure and shape. In addition to unicellular green algae, there are multicellular and colonial algae. These life forms are mobile and immobile. Fixed ones either float freely or are attached to something. Motile ones have special flagella. With their help, these algae can move in space.

Green algae are found in both fresh water and salt seas.

In the summer, when it’s warm, you can often see water “blooming” in puddles or in a pond. This algae reproduces - single-celled Chlamydomonas. Chlorella loves to live on the very surface of the water, where there is a lot of light; it can also take a liking to tree trunks, settling in raindrops and forming a green coating on the bark. Chlorella produces a lot of oxygen.

Volvox, another type of green algae, lives in entire colonies in water bodies. Outwardly, these colonies resemble Christmas tree balls; all the cells in them work very harmoniously.

This is filamentous ulotrix. With its hair-like formations (rhizoids), used like roots in ordinary plants, ulothrix attaches under water to snags or stones.

The multicellular green alga Spirogyra resembles a ball of cotton wool.

Use of algae by humans

This algae has a large nucleus with a nucleolus. It reproduces in two ways: both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction occurs in autumn.

There are also spherical tiny algae called protococcus, which resemble light green mucus.

Siphon algae love sunny places and look like dark green branched threads.

Branching pale green or gray bushes 2-3 cm in size, attached to leaves in the water or driftwood, are cladophora.

In the seas and oceans, near the surface, where the water is well warmed and illuminated, plankton lives and reproduces. It consists of single-celled algae of a wide variety of species, including green algae.

Plankton is food for crustaceans and whales.

4. Brown algae.

Brown algae are predominantly marine organisms, quite large and multicellular. They prefer to settle in waters with cold temperatures in both one and the other hemisphere. They often attach to rocks in the high tide zone. They have a brown color. There are species with small branches, while others are very large, consisting of different parts, like a stem with leaves.

Some countries use these giant kelp algae as fertilizers and as a rich source of iodine. They are added to livestock and poultry feed to enrich milk and eggs with iodine. Residents of the Far East use many of these algae in food, for example, kelp (seaweed). It grows in the Arctic Ocean and reaches a length of one to several meters.

It is attached to the bottom by rhizoids (growths similar to roots) and absorbs water with its entire body. In terms of its structure, kelp is a rather complex organism, somewhat similar to higher plants, but without vessels.

Reproduction occurs with the help of spores. In some kelp, the stem grows 30 m or more in length, then it turns into a leaf containing bubbles, thanks to which the entire plant is supported in water.

In shallow water there lives a small interesting algae with an unusual appearance called padina. There is a giant algae called macrocystis, which grows up to 60 meters, contains air bubbles and grows at a stunning speed: it can grow 50 cm in a day.

Sargassum brown algae can float on its own by lifting off the bottom. The Sargasso Sea is named after them. In some species, the cells are covered with mucus. Brown algae include brown pigment and chlorophyll. After studying the DNA of brown algae, scientists noticed many similarities with yellow-green algae. Subsequently, if there is enough evidence, brown algae will be classified as a yellow-green variety.

5. Red algae.

Red algae - These medium-sized multicellular marine organisms number 2,500 species.

There are especially many of them in the tropics, where they prefer deep places, reaching up to 200 meters. You will no longer find brown algae at such a depth; representatives of red algae reign there. Red algae are found in moist soil and fresh water, but they are still marine inhabitants.

Red algae look very elegant, in the form of bushes with thin branches or thin beautiful plates with fringed edges.

They sometimes look like threads, cylinders and corals. The color of the pigment is very different, you can see pale pink algae, as well as brown, blue and even black shades.

Apparently, such colors are needed for normal photosynthesis at a depth where only barely noticeable light penetrates.

Purple fish living in fresh water are mostly multicellular.

They range in size from microscopic to several centimeters, sometimes reaching up to one meter. The color of crimson can be soft pink, turning into raspberry shades, as well as bluish, greenish and yellow.

Porphyra seaweed grows in our country.

Agar-agar is made from it, which is used in laboratories for growing microorganisms. Other types of algae are used to extract thickeners used in making ice cream or in cosmetics. In Japan, red algae is considered a delicacy.

Seaweeds live in different environments. Some like to attach themselves to rocks, rocks, man-made objects, and even their fellow algae.

Red pigments are able to capture very weak scattered light, which is why scarlets feel great at great depths.

Red algae reproduce quite quickly and spread over vast distances in a short period of time.

Use of algae.

1) Algae are powerful sources of oxygen into the atmosphere and absorbers of carbon dioxide.

2) Seaweed creates cozy, food- and oxygen-rich habitats for fish and sea animals.

3) Algae serve as food for many species of animals, including humans. As an edible product, this plant is endowed with a rich content of mineral substances, and is used mainly in the cuisine of Eastern European peoples, especially in sushi.

Some red algae are a delicacy in eastern countries. Various dishes are prepared from algae, and the valuable substance agar-agar is obtained, which is used to make jelly. The substance carrageenan is used to create ice cream and preserve food. If brown algae is added to livestock feed, in particular cows, the milk will be enriched with valuable iodine and many useful minerals.

Chicken eggs are also enriched with iodine in the same way.

4) Algae are used in cosmetology and medicine. They are rich in vitamins, minerals, and have a healing and rejuvenating effect.

5) Algae are used as fertilizers in agriculture.

6) About 15 thousand harmful and environmentally degrading substances found in the earth’s water resources were discovered.

The problem of purifying the planet's water resources is very relevant at the present time. And the most suitable filtering devices for these purposes are algae. This phenomenon is explained very simply: initially they were predetermined for this by nature itself.

7) The shells of ancient diatoms are in great demand in industry.

They are used in construction (very light bricks are made from diatomite). Glasses, filters, and polishing materials are also made from them.

8) All over the world, the task of creating a structure of biological technologies is being considered, which will help in many ways to circumvent all sorts of problems associated with a lack of fuel resources.

Currently, Japanese scientists are developing technology for extracting fuel from algae.

9) Genetic research on algae is actively developing. They will be of paramount importance in medicine.

3. Conclusion

1) Algae are extraordinary plants.

They play a huge role on Earth by creating oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide. In addition, they are used in almost all areas of our lives.

2) The possibilities of algae need to be studied as much as possible. These are very promising plants from the point of view of researchers. Today, humanity uses only 10 percent of algae resources.

3) Algae are beginning to be used in agriculture, cosmetology, pharmaceuticals, medicine, and the food industry. And this study shows that these are only the first steps on the long path of a small algae.

Use of algae in the world

Algae are of fundamental importance as a food source for almost all aquatic organisms in exploited aquatic systems, including fish and shellfish. Macroalgae have long been used by humans.

Seaweed has been a regular part of the diet on the Chinese coast since 850 BC. (Waaland, 1981). Now they are used for food mainly on the coast of Southeast Asia and on the Pacific Islands.

About 160 species of edible macrophytes are known: 25 green, 54 brown and 81 red algae (Chapman and Chapman, 1980). Structural carbohydrates of marine macrophytes are not digested, but some soluble carbohydrates are included in the metabolism. The protein content of edible seaweed can be up to 20-25% dry weight. Seaweed is an excellent source of vitamins.

Seaweed is used as animal feed.

The algae is collected, dried, and ground into flour, which is used as a feed additive. Brown algae are mainly used - Laminaria, Ascophyllum.

Seaweed has long been used to produce iodine and soda.

Currently, the most important algae extracts used on an industrial scale are alginates, agar and carrageenan (Table), which find a variety of applications.

Seaweed washed ashore by the surf has long been used as fertilizer along all agricultural coasts.

Green algae are used for food, for wastewater treatment, as fertilizers and feed (Ulva) when growing abalone in Japan (Blinova, Makarova, 1990).

The most promising applications of marine macroalgae are their use as pharmaceuticals.

Table.

Use of seaweed around the world (Jensen, 1993)

Product/price/types	Production t/year	Wet weight t/year
Alginate - 230 million US$/year Macrocystis sp., Laminaria sp., Ascophyllum nodosum, Durvillaea sp., Lessonia sp.	27000	500000
Agar - 160 million US$/year Gelidium sp., Gracilaria sp., Gelidiella sp., Pterocladia sp.	11000	180000
Carrageenan - 100 million US$/year Eucheuma sp., Chondrus crispus, Gigartina sp., Furcellaria lumbricalis, Hypnea sp.	15500	250000
Animal feed - 5 million US$/year Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus sp.	10000	50000
Fertilizers (“Maerl”) - 10 million US$/year	510000	550000
Liquid fertilizers - 5 million US$/year	1000	10000
Common Uses of Algae in Industry	1540000
Nori - 1800 million US$/year Porphyra sp.	40000	400000
Wakame - 600 million US$/year Undaria sp.	20000	300000
Kombu - 600 million US$/year kelp	30000	1300000
Common uses of algae as food	2000000

Thalassotherapy. In 1967

French doctor Bonnardiere coined a new word - “thalassotherapy” (from the Greek thalassa or sea). These techniques have been used in Europe for centuries. Thalassotherapy includes a diet of sea food and seaweed to reduce obesity, drinking sea water, bathing in hot sea water (38.5°C), bathing in sea water in which brown algae is suspended in the form of flour, massage with kelp flour and sea ​​water, swimming in sea water, undergoing mechanical and physical stress on the muscles, applying poultices with bottom mud or radioactive bottom silt, sand baths on the shore and sunbathing.

Green algae and their use in medicine

Not all of these uses have medical scientific evidence, but custom (and habits) seem to give them credibility (Arasaki & Arasaki, 1983).

In many European countries, with the help of such therapy, ailments such as rheumatism, padagra, neuralgia, asthma, wounds, eczema, hemorrhoids, scrofulosis, neuroses, diseases associated with stress and aging, and restoration of performance are treated (Arasaki, Arasaki, 1983; De Roeck- Holtzhauer, 1991).

Algotherapy is a characteristic use of algae in medicine or cosmetic therapy. In Japan, Eisenia and Ecklonia are added to hot water in the belief that it prevents or treats paralysis and high blood pressure.

This type of treatment is always prescribed for those suffering from decompression sickness.

In Western Europe, seaweeds (Fucus, Ascophyllum, Laminaria) are mixed into a paste and sometimes combined with other poultices for use as plasters for arthritic joints or used in combination with massage. In some cases, crushed seaweed and foaming agents are added to the bath to make the skin beautiful (De Roeck-Holtzhauer, 1991). Brown seaweed is often dried, ground, processed into gels (colloidal pastes) or added to soups, in the belief that this promotes loss weight.

Substances including alginate from brown algae or carrageenan from red algae are used as beauty products.

Microalgae can be used on the same scale as macroalgae; their use as a source of vitamins, polysaccharides, pigments and fatty acids is increasing (Borowitzka, 1992; Radmer and Parker, 1994). They are also cultivated on a significant scale as a food source in the culture of bivalves and fish larvae.

Algae are a very large and heterogeneous group of lower plants. In addition, they are the most numerous photosynthetic organisms on the planet, which are very important for our nature. You can find algae everywhere. These organisms live in oceans, freshwater bodies and seas, as well as on tree bark and moist soil.

Classification

To date, science has systematized more than one hundred thousand different types of algae. They, in turn, are divided into ten groups depending on the nature of the color:

Blue-green;

Golden;

Pyrophyta;

Yellow-green;

Diatoms;

Red;

Green;

Euglenaceae;

Harovs.

Importance in biogeocenoses

Algae in the aquatic environment are the main producers of organic substances. They not only directly but also indirectly serve as the main source of nutrition for all. Some rocks (oil shale, diatomite and limestone) are known to have appeared in past geological stages as a result of the life cycle of these photosynthetic organisms.

Role in nature

Marine plants are essential for life on our planet. First of all, the importance of algae in nature is due to the fact that they are food for many organisms. These plants feed on crustaceans and mollusks, fish, etc.

Algae are of great importance in nature and as a source of oxygen production. They account for thirty to fifty percent of this valuable substance, which is released by the plant world of our planet.

Just like terrestrial flora, they relieve the atmosphere of the problem of excess carbon dioxide. Sometimes there are so many of them that the water takes on a variety of colors.

Algae perfectly adapt to a wide variety of conditions. These plants can live in rainwater, where the amount of salts is minimal. Their habitat includes rocky hot surfaces and reservoirs of high-mountain glaciers. Algae can also be found in the upper soil layers, where sunlight has difficulty penetrating. These plants are capable of colonizing lifeless rocky and soil substrates. The importance of algae in the nature of such zones is extremely high. These unique plants create the conditions for the soil to be fertile.

The importance of algae in nature is also great for the circulation of substances. First of all, they feed on crustaceans, which are later eaten by fish.

Red algae

Almost all representatives of these plants live in the seas. Red algae have a significant length, which can reach two meters. In addition to chlorophyll, representatives of these species of marine plants contain various pigments in their cells. Their color affects the color of the algae themselves. As a rule, the pigments of such algae are red. However, pink, bluish and other colors are possible.

Which are also called purple ones, have a fragile and delicate body. The color of these plants, from bright red to almost black, gives the underwater kingdom incomparable beauty.

Practical use

The importance of red algae for humans is very great. One of the varieties of these plants, Chondrus, which lives in the North Sea, is used as a medicine to treat respiratory diseases. Agar-agar, used in confectionery, is extracted from red algae. Scarlet flowers are also necessary for microbiologists. In laboratory conditions they are used to obtain microbes.

Brown algae

This species is one of the most important sources of organic matter in coastal zones. This is especially true for the seas of the polar and temperate zones. In these areas, the algae biomass per square meter can reach several tens of kilograms.

Brown algae form real thickets. The significance of these “sea forests” is very great. They provide not only shelter, but also feeding and breeding grounds for many coastal animals. In addition, brown algae create excellent conditions for other micro- and macroscopic algae to reproduce in the area of ​​their distribution.

Amazing plants are the only source in the world for the production of alginic acid salts - alginates. This substance is capable of absorbing up to three hundred weight units of liquid, resulting in a viscous solution. This ability allows brown algae to be used in the food industry. Alginates obtained from them are added to ice cream, canned food and fruit juices. In addition, this substance improves the quality of books when printing, and also serves to impart color fastness to dyed fabrics.

Alginates, produced from brown algae, are needed in the production of synthetic fibers and plastics. They make building materials and paints resistant to weathering. Alginates are also used as raw materials in the production of high-quality lubricants for machines, soluble surgical sutures, pastes and ointments in the perfume and pharmaceutical industries. Brown algae have been used as food for a long time. They are especially revered in the cooking of the peoples of Asian countries.

Green algae

This type of aquatic plant is widespread throughout our planet. Most green algae are found in fresh water bodies, but there are also a considerable number of their marine forms. There are species of these plants that have adapted to terrestrial habitat and to life in soil layers. You can also find green algae on rocks, on the bark of trees, as well as on various buildings. Extensive development zones of these plants contribute to the “blooming” of water, snow, soil, and tree bark.

The importance of green algae in nature is great. First of all, it is a source of oxygen. The role of these plants in cleaning water bodies is also important. The importance of green algae is difficult to overestimate. They process carbon dioxide and those dissolved in water, and also take part in the process of synthesis of organic substances.

Currently, various nutritious products are obtained from these representatives of aquatic flora. They are also used for medical purposes. A special substance is isolated from green algae - chlorellin, which suppresses the spread of a number of pathogenic bacteria in the body. Traditional medicine did not ignore these plants either. Green types are used in pain-relieving compresses.