Sea Weed & Red Algae

Seaweed
Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to several species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The
term includes some types of Rhodophyta (red), Phaeophyta (brown) and Chlorophyta (green)
macroalgae. Seaweed species such as kelps provide essential nursery habitat for fisheries and other
marine species and thus protect food sources; other species, such as planktonic algae, play a vital
role in capturing carbon, producing up to 90% of Earth's oxygen. Understanding these roles offers
principles for conservation and sustainable use. Mechanical dredging of kelp, for instance, destroys
the resource and dependent fisheries.
Seaweed is consumed across the world, particularly in East Asia,

e.g. Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia,
e.g. Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines,
and Malaysia, and also in South Africa, Belize, Peru, Chile, the Canadian
Maritimes, Scandinavia, South West England,[8][9] Ireland, Wales, Hawaii and California,
and Scotland.
Gim (김, Korea), nori (海苔, Japan) and zicai (紫菜, China) are sheets of dried Porphyra used in
soups, sushi or onigiri (rice balls). Chondrus crispus ('Irish moss' or carrageenan moss) is used in
food additives, along with Kappaphycus and Gigartinoid seaweed. Porphyra is used in Wales to
make laverbread (sometimes with oat flour). In northern Belize, seaweed is mixed
with milk, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla to make "dulce" ("sweet").
Alginate, agar and carrageenan are gelatinous seaweed products collectively known
as hydrocolloids or phycocolloids. Hydrocolloids are food additives.[10] The food industry
exploits their gelling, water-retention, emulsifying and other physical properties. Agar is used in
foods such as confectionery, meat and poultry products, desserts and beverages and moulded
foods. Carrageenan is used in salad dressings and sauces, dietetic foods, and as a preservative in
meat and fish, dairy items and baked goods.
RED ALGAE
Red algae, or Rhodophyta (/roʊˈdɒfɪtə/ roh-DOF-it-ə, /ˌroʊdəˈfaɪtə/ ROH-də-FY-tə;

from Ancient Greek ῥόδον (rhodon), meaning 'rose', and φυτόν (phyton), meaning 'plant'), are
one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae.[2] The Rhodophyta also comprises one of the largest
phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 currently recognized species with taxonomic revisions
ongoing.[3] The majority of species (6,793) are found in the Florideophyceae (class), and mostly
consist of multicellular, marine algae, including many notable seaweeds.[3][4] Approximately 5%
of the red algae occur in freshwater environments with greater concentrations found in warmer
areas.[5] Except for two coastal cave dwelling species in the asexual class Cyanidiophyceae, that
diverged from other red algae about 1.3 billion years ago,[6] there are no terrestrial species, which
may be due to an evolutionary bottleneck where the last common ancestor lost about 25% of its
core genes and much of its evolutionary plasticity.[7]
The red algae form a distinct group characterized by having eukaryotic cells
without flagella and centrioles, chloroplasts that lack external endoplasmic reticulum and contain
unstacked (stroma) thylakoids, and use phycobiliproteins as accessory pigments, which give
them their red color.[8] Red algae store sugars as floridean starch, which is a type of starch that
consists of highly branched amylopectin without amylose,[9] as food reserves outside their
plastids. Most red algae are also multicellular, macroscopic, marine, and reproduce sexually. The
red algal life history is typically an alternation of generations that may have three generations
rather than two.[10]
Chloroplasts evolved following an endosymbiotic event between an ancestral, photosynthetic

cyanobacterium and an early eukaryotic phagotroph.[11] This event (termed primary
endosymbiosis) resulted in the origin of the red and green algae, and the glaucophytes, which
make up the oldest evolutionary lineages of photosynthetic eukaryotes.[12] A secondary
endosymbiosis event involving an ancestral red alga and a heterotrophic eukaryote resulted in the
evolution and diversification of several other photosynthetic lineages such
as Cryptophyta, Haptophyta, Stramenopiles (or Heterokontophyta), and Alveolata.[12] In addition
to multicellular brown algae, it is estimated that more than half of all known species of microbial
eukaryotes harbor red-algal-derived plastids.[13]
The coralline algae, which secrete calcium carbonate and play a major role in building coral
reefs, belong here. Red algae such as dulse (Palmaria palmata) and laver (nori/gim) are a
traditional part of European and Asian cuisines and are used to make other products such
as agar, carrageenans and other food additives.[14]
Red algae are divided into the Cyanidiophyceae, a class of unicellular

and thermoacidophilic extremophiles found in sulphuric hot springs and other acidic
environments,[15] an adaptation partly made possible by horizontal gene transfers from
prokaryotes,[16], with about 1% of their genome having this origin,[17] and two sister clades called
SCRP (Stylonematophyceae, Compsopogonophyceae, Rhodellophyceae and
Porphyridiophyceae) and BF (Bangiophyceae and Florideophyceae), which are found in both
marine and freshwater environments. The SCRP clade are microalgae, consisting of both
unicellular forms and multicellular microscopic filaments and blades. The BF are macroalgae,
seaweed that usually do not grow to more than about 50 cm in length, but a few species can
reach lengths of 2 m.[18][19] Most rhodophytes are marine with a worldwide distribution, and are
often found at greater depths compared to other seaweeds. While this was formerly attributed to
the presence of pigments (such as phycoerythrin) that would permit red algae to inhabit greater
depths than other macroalgae by chromatic adaption, recent evidence calls this into question (e.g.
the discovery of green algae at great depth in the Bahamas).[20] Some marine species are found
on sandy shores, while most others can be found attached to rocky substrata.[21] Freshwater
species account for 5% of red algal diversity, but they also have a worldwide distribution in
various habitats;[5] they generally prefer clean, high-flow streams with clear waters and rocky
bottoms, but with some exceptions.[22] A few freshwater species are found in black waters with
sandy bottoms [23] and even fewer are found in more lentic waters.[24] Both marine and freshwater
taxa are represented by free-living macroalgal forms and smaller endo/epiphytic/zoic forms,
meaning they live in or on other algae, plants, and animals.[8] In addition, some marine species
have adopted a parasitic lifestyle and may be found on closely or more distantly related red algal
hosts

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Seaweed

the resource and dependent fisheries.

Seaweed is consumed across the world, particularly in East Asia,

Red algae, or Rhodophyta (/roʊˈdɒfɪtə/ roh-DOF-it-ə, /ˌroʊdəˈfaɪtə/ ROH-də-FY-tə;

Chloroplasts evolved following an endosymbiotic event between an ancestral, photosynthetic

Red algae are divided into the Cyanidiophyceae, a class of unicellular

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