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'Chlorophyta', a division of green algae, includes about 8000 species^[1][1] of mostly aquatic photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. Like the land plants (bryophytes and tracheophytes), green algae contain chlorophylls ''a'' and ''b'', and store food as starch in their plastids. They are related to the Charophyta and Embryophyta (land plants), together making up the Viridiplantae.
They contain both unicellular and multicellular species. While most species live in freshwater habitats and a large number in marine habitats, other species are adapted to a wide range of environments. Watermelon snow, or ''Chlamydomonas nivalis'', of the class Chlorophyceae, lives on summer alpine snowfields. Others live attached to rocks or woody parts of trees. Some lichens are symbiotic relationships with fungi and a green alga. Members of the Chlorophyta also form symbiotic relationships with protozoa, sponges and coelenterates. Some are flagellated and these have an advantage of motility. Some conduct sexual reproduction which is oogamy or isogamy.

Contents

Classes

References

Further reading

Classes

★ Class Bryopsidophyceae Bessey

★ Class Chlorophyceae Wille

★ Class Pedinophyceae Moestrup

★ Class Pleurastrophyceae Mattox & K. D. Stewart

★ Class Prasinophyceae T. A. Chr. ex Ø. Moestrup & J. Throndsen

★ Class Trebouxiophyceae T. Friedl

★ Class Ulvophyceae K. R. Mattox & K. D. Stewart

★ Class Caryopoceae Jerry''
Classification according to Hoek, Mann and Jahns 1995.

★ ''Prasinophyceae''

★ ''Chlorophyceae''

★ ''Ulvophyceae''

★ ''Cladophorophyceae''

★ ''Bryopsipophycese''

★ ''Dasycladophyceae''

★ ''Trentepoliophyceae''

★ ''Pleurastrophyceae'' (Pleurastrales and Prasiolales)

★ ''Klebsormidiophyceae''

★ ''Zygnematophyceae''

★ ''Charophyceae''
Classification according to Bold and Wynne (Introduction to the Algae, Second Edition, Prentice Hall NJ)

★ ''Volvocales''

★ ''Tetrasporales''

★ ''Chlorococcales''

★ ''Chlorosarcinales''

★ ''Ultrichales''

★ ''Sphaeropleales''

★ ''Chaetophorales''

★ ''Trentepohliales''

★ ''Oedogoniales''

★ ''Ulvales''

★ ''Cladophorales''

★ ''Acrosiphoniales''

★ ''Caulerpales''

★ ''Siphonocladales''

★ ''Dasycladales''

References

1. 'Hoek, C. van den, Mann, D.G. and Jahns, H.M.' 1995. ''Algae An Introduction to Phycology.'' Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 0 521 30419 9

Further reading

Green algae and the origin of land plants, Lewis, L. A. & McCourt, R. M., , , American Journal of Botany, 2004