The green algae are the large group of algae from which the embryophytes (higher plants) emerged. As such they form a paraphyletic group, variously included among the Plantae or with the Protista. The green algae include unicellular and colonial flagellates, usually but not always with two flagella per cell, as well as various colonial, coccoid, and filamentous forms. In the Charales, the closest relatives of higher plants, full differentiation of tissues occurs. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering... Classes Chlorophyceae Ulvophyceae Trebouxiophyceae Prasinophyceae The Chlorophyta sensu stricto or chlorophyte algae, comprises most of what are commonly called green algae and includes most members of the grade of putatively ancestral scaly flagellates in Prasinophyceae plus members of Ulvophyceae, Trebouxiophyceae, and Chlorophyceae. ... Classes Mesostigmatophyceae Chlorokybophyceae Klebsormidiophyceae Zygnemophyceae    Zygnematales    Desmidiales Charophyceae    Coleochaetales    Charales The Charophyta are a division of green algae, including the closest relatives of the embryophyte plants. ... Classes Charophyceae Embryophyceae Streptophytina is a division which contains two classes: Charophyceae, containing the Charales order (Charophytes sensu stricto); and Embryophyceae, which contains the embryophytes (land plants, bryophytes and vascular plants). ... The algae (singular is alga) comprise several different groups of living things that produce energy through photosynthesis. ... Divisions Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Hepaticophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants The embryophytes are the most familiar group... Paraphyletic - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering... [[{{{diversity_link}}}|Diversity]] {{{diversity}}} Binomial name {{{binomial}}} Trinomial name {{{trinomial}}} Type Species {{{type_species}}} Typical phyla Rhodophyta (red algae) Chromista Heterokontophyta (heterokonts) Haptophyta Cryptophyta (cryptomonads) Alveolates Dinoflagellata Apicomplexa Ciliophora (ciliates) Excavates Euglenozoa Percolozoa Metamonada Rhizaria Radiolaria Foraminifera Cercozoa Amoebozoa Choanozoa Many others; classification varies [[Image:{{{range_map}}}|{{{range_map_width}}}|]] Synonyms {{{synonyms}}} Protists are a... Genera Chara Lamprothamnium Nitella Tolypella The Charales are an order of green algae, and are believed to be the closest relatives of the embryophyte plants. ...

Almost all forms have chloroplasts. These contain chlorophylls a and b, giving them a bright green colour (as well as the accessory pigments beta carotene and xanthophylls), and have stacked thylakoids. They are bound by a double membrane, so presumably were acquired by direct endosymbiosis of cyanobacteria. A number of cyanobacteria show similar pigmentation, but this appears to have arisen more than once, and the chloroplasts of green algae are no longer considered closely related to such forms. The only other groups with primary chloroplasts are the red algae and glaucophytes, and it may be that the green algae share a common origin with them. The euglenids and chlorarachniophytes also have green chloroplasts, which were presumably acquired from ingested green algae, in the latter case retaining a vestigial nucleus (nucleomorph). The inside of a chloroplast Chloroplasts are organelles found in plant cells and eukaryotic algae that conduct photosynthesis. ... Chlorophyll is a green photosynthetic pigment found in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. ... Carotene is a terpene, an orange photosynthetic pigment, important for photosynthesis. ... Xanthophyll (originally phylloxanthin) is the yellow pigment found in the leaves of most plants. ... A thylakoid is a phospholipid bilayer membrane internal to chloroplasts. ... The endosymbiotic theory concerns the origins of mitochondria and plastids (plastids with chlorophyll a and b are called chloroplasts, some other plastids are called cyanelles and rhodoplasts),which are organelles of eukaryotic cells. ... Orders The taxonomy of the Cyanobacteria is currently under revision. ... Classes Florideophyceae Bangiophyceae Cyanidiophyceae The red algae (Rhodophyta) are a large group of mostly multicellular, marine algae, including many notable seaweeds. ... The glaucophytes are a tiny group of freshwater algae. ... The euglenids are one of the best-known groups of flagellates, commonly found in freshwater especially when rich in organic materials, with a few marine and endosymbiotic members. ... Genera Chlorarachnion Gymnochlora Lotharella Cryptochlora Chlorarachniophytes are a small group of algae occasionally found in tropical oceans. ...

A growth of the green seaweed, Enteromorpha on rock substratum at the ocean shore. Some green seaweeds, such as Enteromorpha and Ulva, are quick to utilize inorganic nutrients from land runoff, and thus can be indicators of nutrient pollution.

Some species of green algae, particularly of genera Trebouxia or Pseudotrebouxia (Trebouxiophyceae), can be found in symbiotic associations with fungus to form lichens. In general the algal species that partner in lichens cannot live on their own, while the fungal partner species are often found living in nature without the algae. Download high resolution version (980x735, 193 KB)Photo of green algal growth (Enteromorpha sp. ... Download high resolution version (980x735, 193 KB)Photo of green algal growth (Enteromorpha sp. ... Species Ulva lactuca Ulva pertusa Ulva fasciata Ulva rigida Ulva pertusa Ulva linza and more at algaeBASE The sea lettuces comprise the genus Ulva, a group of edible green algae widely distributed along the coasts of the worlds oceans. ... // Nutrients and the body A nutrient is any element or compound necessary for or contributing to an organisms metabolism, growth, or other functioning. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Deuteromycota Zygomycota Glomeromycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota Yellow fungus Fungus growing on a tree in Borneo A fungus (plural fungi) is a eukaryotic organism that digests its food externally and absorbs the nutrient molecules into its cells. ... Crustose and foliose lichens on a wall Lichens are symbiotic organisms made up by the association of microscopic green algae or cyanobacteria and filamentous fungi. ...

All green algae have mitochondria with flat cristae. When present flagella are typically anchored by a cross-shaped system of microtubules, but these are absent among the higher plants and charophytes. They usually have cell walls containing cellulose, and undergo open mitosis without centrioles. Sexual reproduction varies from fusion of identical cells (isogamy) to fertilization of a large non-motile cell by a smaller motile one (oogamy). However, these traits show some variation, most notably among the basal green algae, called prasinophytes. The remaining forms are usually classified as follows: Mitochondria are visible as thread-like structures in the light microscope. ... A flagellum (plural, flagella) is a whip-like organelle that many unicellular organisms, and some multicellular ones, use to move about. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Cellulose (C6H10O5)n is a long-chain polymer polysaccharide carbohydrate, of beta-glucose. ... Light micrograph of a newt lung cell in early anaphase of mitosis. ...

• Chlorophyta
  • Chlorophyceae
  • Ulvophyceae
  • Trebouxiophyceae
• Chlorokybales
• Klebsormidiales
• Zygnematales
• Desmidales
• Coleochaetales
• Charales (stoneworts)

The orders outside the Chlorophyta are often grouped as the division Charophyta, which is paraphyletic to higher plants, together comprising the Streptophyta. Sometimes the Charophyta is restricted to the Charales, and a division Gamophyta is introduced for the Zygnematales and Desmidales. In older systems the Chlorophyta may be taken to include all the green algae, but taken as above they appear to form a monophyletic group. Orders see text The Chlorophyceae are one of the classes of green algae, distinguished mainly on the basis of ultrastructural morphology. ... Orders Acrosiphoniales Caulerpales Cladophorales Dasycladales Oltmansiellopsidales Trentepohliales Ulotrichales Ulvales The Ulvophyceae or Ulvophytes are class of green algae, distinguished mainly on the basis of ultrastructural morphology. ... Families Mesotaeniaceae Zygnemataceae The Zygnematales are an order of green algae, comprising several thousand different species in genera such as the well-known Zygnema and Spirogyra. ... Families Closteriaceae Desmidiaceae Gonatozygaceae Peniaceae Desmids are the Desmidiales class of green algae, comprise around 40 genera and more than 10000 species, found mostly but not exclusively in freshwater. ... Genera Chara Lamprothamnium Nitella Tolypella The Charales are an order of green algae, and are believed to be the closest relatives of the embryophyte plants. ... Paraphyletic - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

See also: Red algae Brown algae Classes Florideophyceae Bangiophyceae Cyanidiophyceae The red algae (Rhodophyta) are a large group of mostly multicellular, marine algae, including many notable seaweeds. ... Orders Dictyotales Desmerestiales Fucales Laminariales (kelps) etc. ...

References

Lewis, L.A, McCourt, R.M. (2004) Green algae and the origin of land plants. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 91 (10): 1535-1556 OCT.