Where are oscillatoria found?

Where are oscillatoria found?

It is commonly found in watering-troughs waters, and is mainly blue-green or brown-green. Oscillatoria is an organism that reproduces by fragmentation. Oscillatoria forms long filaments of cells which can break into fragments called hormogonia. The hormogonia can grow into a new, longer filament.

Why Spirogyra is called so?

The filamentous algae genus Spirogyra owes its name to the characteristic spiral shape of the chloroplasts possessed by its members. Sometimes alternatively known as water-silk, mermaid’s tresses, or pond scum, a large presence of the unbranched algae often indicates the nutrient enrichment of freshwater bodies.

What is Ulothrix in biology?

Ulothrix, genus of filamentous green algae (family Ulotrichaceae) found in marine and fresh waters. Each cell contains a distinct nucleus, a central vacuole, and a large thin chloroplast with at least one pyrenoid. Ulothrix (highly magnified), a type of filamentous green algae.

What is a Pyrenoid and what does it do?

The pyrenoid, a dense structure inside or beside chloroplasts of certain algae, consists largely of ribulose biphosphate carboxylase, one of the enzymes necessary in photosynthesis for carbon fixation and thus sugar formation. Starch, a storage form of glucose, is often found around pyrenoids.

Is Oscillatoria toxic?

But the most concerning difference between an Oscillatoria bloom and one dominated by Microcystis is that the latter is a notorious toxin producer, and the toxins can be harmful to animals, including humans. While harmful is usually synonymous with toxin, there are other harmful effects of HABs.

Is Oscillatoria a nitrogen fixer?

Nostoc, Anabaena, and Oscillatoria are nitrogen- fixing algae. They are capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen as free-living forms and also in mutual association with the roots of plants. Other than nitrogen cyanobacteria can also fix carbon from carbon dioxide during photosynthesis.

What is mucilage in Spirogyra?

Spirogyra is a fresh water free floating green algae. It is commonly found in pond, pool, ditches, lakes and riverbanks. The filament is covered by mucilage layer which makes plant body slippery and prevents from decaying.

Why Spirogyra is known as pond silk?

Answer: (2) Filaments are slippery to touch Spirogyra is free-floating green algae present in freshwater habitats such as ponds, lakes, etc. Spirogyra is commonly known as water silk or pond silk.

Is Laminaria filamentous algae?

Laminaria is a genus of algae having 31 species which is known as brown algae. Chlorella is a genus of green algae which is single called having no flagella in them. They are known to be non-filamentous as they do not form a thread-like huge mass on the ponds.

What does thallus mean?

thallus, plant body of algae, fungi, and other lower organisms formerly assigned to the obsolete group Thallophyta. A thallus is composed of filaments or plates of cells and ranges in size from a unicellular structure to a complex treelike form.

Can algae be used as medicine?

Mainly marine algae have been used as food and medicine for many centuries . they are not only used as food but also used as extracts in food, dairy, cosmetics, and industrial uses. Algae is used as one of important medical source due to its antioxidant, anticancer, antiviral properties. .

What happens to the vegetative filament after fragmentation?

After fragmentation, the vegetative filament develops into a new filament where each fragment undergoes multiple division and elongation to form a new filament. When a Spirogyra filament attains considerable length, it breaks into smaller pieces that can grow into a mature organism.

What causes filament fragmentation in Spirogyra?

Fragmentation can be due to mechanical injury or dissolution of the middle lamella with a change in the salinity and temperature of the water. Sometimes the middle lamella of one cell protrudes into an adjacent cell resulting in the breakage of the filament. Asexual reproduction can be found in few species of Spirogyra.

How do akinete germinate into new filaments?

On the return of favourable conditions each akinete germinate into a new filament. In the life cycle of S. varians and S. groenlandica, sometimes the gametes fail to fuse and each get enclosed by thick cell wall to become azygospore or parthenospore. Each azygospore germinates in to a new filament.

What is the structure of the central vacuole in filaments?

Each cell of the filaments features a large central vacuole, within which the nucleus is suspended by fine strands of cytoplasm. The chloroplasts form a spiral around the vacuole.