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Short Answer Questions · Q17

Q.Distinguish between Chlorophyceae and Phaeophyceae on the basis of their stored food and cell-wall composition.

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Stored food. Chlorophyceae store their reserve food as true starch, the same chemical form used by higher plants. Phaeophyceae, by contrast, store food as a combination of mannitol, laminarin and starch -- chemically different reserve carbohydrates not seen in the green algae.

Cell wall. The Chlorophyceae cell wall is made simply of cellulose. The Phaeophyceae cell wall is more complex, built of cellulose together with fucans and algin -- algin, in particular, is a compound of considerable commercial value, extracted from brown algae for industrial use.

Taken together, these two features -- along with their differing pigments (chlorophyll a/b vs chlorophyll a/c plus fucoxanthin) and habitats (mostly freshwater vs almost entirely marine) -- are what separate the two classes.

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Chlorophyceae: true starch, cellulose wall. Phaeophyceae: mannitol/laminarin/starch, cellulose+fucans+algin wall.

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