Tag Archives: phycology

The word ‘plankton’ has been derived from a Gr. word ‘planktos’ means drifting. So, plankton are those microscopic aquatic organisms or drifters whose movement is mainly driven by water current, wave, tide, etc. Although, some of them might possess some kinds of locomotory organs but those are not sufficiently strong …

Marine Botany is the study of aquatic plants and algae that live in oceans, seas, intertidal zones and even in brackish water (more saline than freshwater but less saline than true marine environments) of estuarine zones. It is a combined branch of marine biology and botany. According to Wikipedia, Marine …

The cultivation of nori started about 300 yrs ago around the coast of Tokyo Bay and developed gradually in many localities Bundles of twigs of trees such as oaks, cherry, etc. were set in rows on the ground as the collectors, to which nori spores attach themselves and grow. In …

Of the global seaweed harvest, 85% – 95% goes to the food industry and is worth approx €4.1 billion per annum (p.a.). The most valuable crop produced by seaweed aquaculture is Nori – Porphyra – a red seaweed or alga. The value of this crop is around US$ 2 billion …

Algal toxins are toxic substances released by some types of algae when they are present in large quantities (Blooms) and decay or degrade. These toxins are called ‘Phycotoxins’ (from Greek, phykos, “seaweed”; and toxikon, “toxin”). They are usually complex allelopathic metabolites produced by algal secondary metabolic pathways. These metabolites are (in most cases) not harmful to …

Batch culture: A close system culture of algae in which there will be no supply or withdrawal of culture medium and biomass into or out of the culture vessel. In this type of culture the amount of medium and inoculum are known and specific. a. Lag phase It is the …

Culture of algae in laboratory is not only important for knowing the details of the external morphology and reproduction in a particular algae or algal group, it is equally important to know the details of algal life-histories, taxonomy, physiology, biochemistry, genetics and also its ultra-structure. Most of  the development in …

The branch Phycology has come into existence in 1753 when Carolus Linnaeus first discovered four genera namely Fucus, Conferra, Chara and Ulva. Exactly after 200 years in 1953, Prof. A. K. M. Nurul Islam started to work on algal taxonomy in the Department of Botany, University of Dhaka and devoted …

Algae is a group of photosynthetic organisms found in both marine and freshwater habitats. As these organisms have a short duplication time, they are considered among one of the fastest growing creatures. They have efficient pathways to fix atmospheric carbon dioxide and to efficiently utilize the available nutrients to convert …

Algae is a heterogenous group of organisms containing members having chlorphyll ‘a’ as their primary photosynthetic pigments. These green chlorophyll molecules along with some accessory pigments are contained generally in a membrane bound packet like structure called chloroplast within the algal body. In some members, chloroplast is absent though; such …