Bryopsidales

Characteristics

The thallus is filamentous and much branched and may be packed into a mass. It is coenocytic, having multi-nucleate cells consisting of cytoplasm contained within a cylindrical cell wall. There are no septae and the many discoid chloroplasts, nuclei and other organelles are free to move through the organism. The whole organism may consist of a single cell and in the genus Caulerpa this may be several metres across. In the genus Halimeda, whole seabed meadows may consist of an individual, single-celled organism connected by filamentous threads running through the substrate.[2]

Reproduction

Propagation is normally vegetative from small fragments which grow into new individuals. Under certain conditions sexual reproduction occurs in a process called holocarpy. Almost all of the cytoplasm in the thallus is converted into biflagellate gametes, which are discharged into the sea through papillae. After fertilisation, the zygote becomes a protonema and this in turn develops into a new thallus.[2][3]

References
  1. Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. (2007). "Order: Bryopsidales taxonomy browser". AlgaeBase version 4.2 World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  2. Day, Robert (1996). "The Cell Biology of the Bryopsidales". Seascope. 13.
  3. Overview of the Genus Caulerpa Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine Proceedings of the International Caulerpa taxifolia Conference, 2002.
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