Question

If you are asked to classify the various algae into distinct groups, which of the following characters you should choose?

• A. Nature of stored food materials in the cell
• B. Types of pigments present in the cell
• C. Structural organization of thallus
• D. Chemical composition of the cell wall

Answer 1

The correct option is B

Types of pigments present in the cell

The correct option is B

Explanation of the correct option:

1. Algae are a class of non-vascular, chlorophyllous plants with thallose plant bodies.
2. Different algae display various cell colours, such as chlorophylls a, h, xanthophylls, carotenes, etc.
3. The foundation for categorizing distinct groupings of algae into different classes is provided by these pigments.
4. Chlorophyceae are known for having chlorophyll a and b pigments, but Phaeophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Rhodophyceae, Fucoxanthin, and Cyanophyceae all have their own unique pigments.
5. Chlorophyceae (Green algae) Chlorophyll a, b.
6. Phaeophyceae (Brown algae) Chlorophyll a, c, fucoxanthin.
7. Rhodophyceae (Red algae) Chlorophyll a, d, phycoerythrin.

Explanation of the incorrect option:

Option A:

1. Algae can either be autotrophic or heterotrophic in nature.
2. Chemoheterotrophic algae require additional external organic substances, such as carbon and energy sources.
3. The conserved food components in algae include starch, Floridian starch, oils, laminarin, soluble carbohydrates, paramylon, and chrysolaminarin.

Option C:

1. Algae are low-complexity plants. Especially in the vegetative plant body, thalli in algae come in a broad range.
2. The simplest thallus, which consists of immobile single cells, can be as complex as filamentous forms without a well-organized nucleus and plastids.

Option D:

1. Plants and algae both have cell walls made of a variety of glycoproteins or polysaccharides like cellulose, or both.
2. Mananas-type microfibrils in the cell walls of a variety of marine green algae, such as those in the genera Codium, Acetabularia, and in the walls of certain red algae, such as Porphyra, are commonly employed as a tool for algal taxonomy because they contain extra polysaccharides.

Final answer: Algae can be classified depending upon the different pigments present in them.