Explain the reproduction methods in phaeophyceae?
Answers
They commonly reproduce by asexual heterokont zoospores, or zygotes formed by fusion of motile or nonmotile female gametes with heterokont male gametes.
Explanation:
Brown algae (Phaeophyceae) are benthic macroalgae constituting a primary element of coastal ecosystems in temperate and cold water seas and are also economically important. Currently ca. 2,000 species in ca. 300 genera are recognized. They are mostly marine and only a few genera are known in freshwater habitats. They are photosynthetic organisms, sharing chloroplasts originated from secondary endosymbiotic events with photosynthetic heterokonts (chromists, stramenopiles) and surrounded by four layers of membranes. Major photosynthetic pigments are chlorophylls a and c and fucoxanthin and produce laminaran as the storage polysaccharide. All known species are multicellular, with cell walls composed of alginates, fucoidan (fucan), and cellulose, and traversed by plasmodesmata. Basal taxa generally show isomorphic life history and apical growth. Derived taxa have evolved heteromorphic life histories and modified life history patterns, some with only a diploid generation (thallus), as well as diverse growth patterns such as diffuse and intercalary growth. They commonly reproduce by asexual heterokont zoospores, or zygotes formed by fusion of motile or nonmotile female gametes with heterokont male gametes.