Spirogyra belongs to the Department of Green Algae. Her body is a filamentous thallus, which consists of individual cells and does not form tissues and organs. This is a characteristic feature of all representatives of the group of lower plants. For attachment to the base, as with all algae, spirogyra have rhizoids. Using these filamentous formations, the thallium is attached to the substrate. Rhizoids are also represented by a cluster of cells and do not form tissues.
The affiliation of spirogyra to the Green algae department is determined by the presence of chloroplasts in the cells of this plant organism. These structures are one of the varieties of plastids. Due to the presence of chloroplasts, algae, like all plants, are able to carry out the process of photosynthesis - independently form carbohydrates necessary for growth and development.
Spirogyra cell structure
This representative of green algae is a multicellular organism. The structure of spirogyra (the figure above shows the basic structures) is represented by a long filamentous structure. Chloroplasts of this algae have the form of ribbons, which are spirally twisted. This feature defines the name of the described organisms. The cells are also elongated, have a cylindrical shape. They are connected with the help of pores in the shells through which the metabolic process is carried out.
Like all plant cells, vacuoles, which are reservoirs filled with water with dissolved nutrients, occupy most of them. The shells are saturated with carbohydrate cellulose, which gives them strength and rigidity.
Spirogyra algae, like all plants, is a eukaryotic organism. This means that its cells contain a nucleus. The organelle contains genetic material embedded in DNA molecules.
Habitat
Algae spirogyra in the vast majority of cases is an inhabitant of fresh water with stagnant water. But it is found in the seas. Her threads, interwoven in large numbers, look like green cotton wool floating on the surface.
Food
The structure of spirogyra also determines the type of its nutrition, since algae cells contain green plastids, chloroplasts, capable of carrying out the process of photosynthesis. Its essence lies in the formation of organic matter from inorganic due to the energy of solar radiation. This type of food is called autotrophic.
The obtained algae glucose is used to carry out vital processes and growth of the body. And all living organisms need oxygen to breathe out - a necessary condition for their existence on the planet. The source of substances necessary for photosynthesis, namely water and carbon dioxide, is their habitat directly.
Breeding
For this green algae, vegetative propagation by parts of thallus is predominant. Numerous threads are torn into pieces, each of which gives rise to a new organism. This determines the intensity and high productivity of this process. However, the structure of spirogyra makes possible the sexual process. It is carried out in the form of conjugation. At the same time, the threads of algae are intertwined, a specialized formation arises between them - the copulation channel. On it, the internal contents of one cell containing genetic material flows into another. The result is a compacted formation - a zygospore. In this state, the algae tolerates adverse conditions, and in the spring a young filamentous individual sprouts from it.
The sexual process makes possible the emergence of new properties of the body, which is an important condition for the adaptation of plants to constantly changing environmental conditions.
Importance in ecosystems and human life
The structure of spirogyra makes it the main object in laboratory research, since it has rather large cells that reach 0.01 mm in diameter. This alga forms dense thickets in many reservoirs. Such biomass is capable of releasing a sufficiently large amount of oxygen. But this property also has a negative value, since it leads to the processes of waterlogging, decay and flowering of water. As a result, many animals may simply die. Surely, the words from the children's song “covered the brown pond with the expanse of the old pond” are devoted specifically to the green filamentous clusters of spirogyra. However, due to it, a large number of aquatic inhabitants survive, and the biomass that it is able to form is several times higher than similar indicators in terrestrial plants.
Spirogyra is a typical representative of the Lower Plants group, namely the Green Algae division. It acts as an integral part of the ecosystems of almost all fresh water bodies, a source of organic matter and oxygen.