Red Algae

• Main Authors: Fredericq, Suzanne, Schmidt, William E
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2016
• Subjects: Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470015902.a0000335.pub2; http://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2F9780470015902.a0000335.pub2; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9780470015902.a0000335.pub2; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/9780470015902.a0000335.pub2

Abstract Red algae are a phylum of about 7100 mostly marine, unicellular and multicellular photosynthetic eukaryotes that belong to the Supergroup Plantae. Multicellular taxa consist exclusively of a filamentous construction lacking true tissues despite their often superficially complex plant body. This group is unique in the Tree of Life in lacking both flagella and centrioles with a 9 + 2 microtubule arrangement in all stages of the life history. They include species with elaborate life cycles, significant ecological importance and extensive economical applications. The oldest known taxonomically resolved eukaryotic fossil, ca. 1250–1100 million years ago, is a red alga. Key Concepts Red algae are crucial organisms for understanding the evolution of sex and life cycles. Red algae are crucial organisms to understand the evolution of multicellularity since the oldest eukaryote on record is a red alga. Red algae are important in the evolution of photosynthetic eukaryotes since their ancestor hosted a cyanobacterium that became the plastid through the event of primary endosymbiosis. Mitochondrial genomes among multicellular red algae are highly conserved, supporting the notion of a rapid radiation among the morphologically divergent multicellular lineages. The calcifying coralline red algae are widespread, long‐lived barometers of ocean health and real‐time indicators of global warming and ocean acidification impacts.