Plant Diversity-I

THALLUS ORGANISATION
OF ALGAE
Dr. P. Manikandan
AP in Botany
I. Unicellular Algae: It is of two types
A. Motile forms or flagellated forms
a) Freely moving in water by flagella
b) They are of many shapes – spherical, oblong or pear shaped
and circular.
Eg. Chlamydomonas
c) Some are dorsi-ventrally differentiated
Eg. Phacus
d) The number of flagella may to one to more and it may be
equal or unequal.
Euglena – one flagellum at its anterior
 Chlamydomonas – two flagella at its front end
Heterochlorsis – two flagella and unequal
Botrydiopsis – two flagella Chlamydomonas
i. Acronematic / whiplash
ii. Pantonematic
Trichloris – three flagella
Carteria – four flagella Euglena

Chloraster – five flagella

Pocillomonas – six flagella
Carteria
B. Non-motile or Non-flagellated or coccoid forms
The unicellular non – flagellated forms are called coccoid forms
The cells are more or less round and bounded by rigid cell wall
Eg. Chlorella and Chlorococcus
The cell is elongated and spirally coiled structure
Eg. Spirulina
The cell is spindle in shape
Chlorococcus
Eg. Closterium
Spirulina

Chlorella
Closterium
II. Multicellular Algae (or) Colonial forms:
A group of individual cells of a species living in a habitat is
called a colony.
It is of two types:-
a. Motile colonial forms (or) Coenobial forms
b. Non Motile colonial forms.
 a. Motile colonial forms (or) Coenobial forms

Colony forms of juvenile and mature stages motile algae called

“Coenobium”
Motile colony forms
Eg. Volvox
Gonium
Pandorina etc.
Volvox colony has many Chlamydomonas cells interconnected
by protoplasmic connections.
The surface of the colony is covered with mucilage.
Gonium colony consists of 4 – 32 closely arranged
Chlamydomonas type of cells surround by mucilaginous cells.
Pandorina colony has 16 – 32 cells covered with a common
mucilaginous sheath.
Volvox Gonium Pandorina
b. Non Motile colonial forms
• The individual cells are non – flagellated as called non-motile
The group of non-motile colonial cells as called Coenobium.
Eg. Hydrodictyon, Pediastrum, Senedesmus etc.
• The Coenobium of Hydrodictyon consists of many cylindrical
cells which are joined end to end like hexagons in shape.
• Hence the colony appears to be a net-like Hydrodictyon.
 Pediastrum colony is disc shaped
and is made of closely arranged cells.

 Scenedesmus colony consists of 4 –

8 variously shaped cells which are
parellely arranged.
 c. Palmella – stage or Amorphous colony:
Numerous non motile cells are embedded in a
common mucilaginous matrix.
E.g.- Tetraspora, Chlorosaccus and Phaeocystis

d. Dendroid forms:
Tetraspora
The thallus appears as tree like under the microscope.
E.g.- Dinobryon, Prasinocladus, Dendobryon etc.
Prasinocladu Dendobryon Dinobryon
s
e. Rhizopodial form
• A colony in which the individual cells are linked together by
rhizopodia is called rhizopodial forms or rhizopodial colony.
Eg. Chlorachnion.
f. Filamentous forms
An algal thallus cells are arranged in linear row
All cells are joined end to end.
Chlorachnion
It is called a filament or filamentous form.
1. Uniseriate filament.
2. Multiseriate filament
 Ulothrix

1. Uniseriate filament – The filament is

made of single row of cells.
Eg. Ulothrix, Oedogonium. Oedogonium

2. Multiseriate filament – The cells are

arranged in more than one linear row.
Eg. Ulva

Ulva
The filamentous forms two types:- Ulva

i) Branched
ii) Unbranched
Unbranched types –
Simple with linear row of cells
Eg. Ulothrix
Leaf – like Eg. Ulva
Tubular –like Eg. Enteromorpha.
Enteromorpha
Filamentous thalli with lateral branches is called branched
“filaments algae”.
Types of branched thalli
Pseudo branches
• In some algae, the filaments breaks
at certain points due to the
disintegration of cells.
• The cells adjacent to the dead cells
grow out of the mucilaginous sheath
called “Pseudo branches”. Scytonema
Eg. Scytonema
True branches
The lateral branches arise due to the transverse
division of cells in lateral outgrowths.
Eg. Cladophora
Parenchymatous cells
Eg. Ulva
Pseudoparenchymatous cells
Eg. Cladophora, Polysiphonia, Gracilaria
g. Heterotrichous forms
• The filaments which contains both prostrate system and erect
system is called “Heterotrichous form”.
• Hetero – different; trichous – filament
• The thallus was differentiated into creeping system and
projecting system.
• Creeping system – consists of branched filaments attached to
the substratum.
• Projecting system – arises from the creeping system and grows
erect.
• Fritschiella – both creeping and erect
equally developed
• Coleochaete – creeping system – disc Fritschiella

like and well developed.

Projecting system – poorly developed
• Drapernoldiopsis– projecting system –
well developed. Coleochaete

Creeping system – poorly developed.

Drapernoldiopsis
h. Siphonous forms or Ceonocytic algae
Elongated thallus without septation.
The thallus cell is elongated which contains
many nuclei, chromatophores, cytoplasm and a
central narrow vacuole.
Eg. Vaucheria and Protosiphon
i. Parenchymatous forms
The plant body of algae made up of parenchyma cells.
During the cell division septation leads to the formation of a
parenchymatous body.
E.g.- Chara, Ulva, Sargassum

Chara Ulva Sargassum

Thank You