green algae

division of algae
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Also known as: Chlorophyta, grass-green algae

green algae, members of the division Chlorophyta, comprising between 9,000 and 12,000 species. The photosynthetic pigments (chlorophylls a and b, carotene, and xanthophyll) are in the same proportions as those in higher plants. The typical green algal cell, which can be motile or nonmotile, has a central vacuole, pigments contained in plastids that vary in shape in different species, and a two-layered cellulose and pectin cell wall. Food is stored as starch in pyrenoids (proteinaceous cores within the plastids). Green algae, variable in size and shape, include single-celled (Chlamydomonas, desmids), colonial (Hydrodictyon, Volvox), filamentous (Spirogyra, Cladophora), and tubular (Actebularia, Caulerpa) ...(100 of 195 words)