Algae are plant-like Protists, are green, and shaped like a fine thread-thread. Why is said to resemble a plant? Because algae are Protists which contain chlorophyll and photosynthetic can meet the needs of the food itself. Why algae just said to resemble a plant? Isn’t it algae can make its own food? Algae is indeed not a plant because the algae does not have roots, stems, and leaves are true as owned by the plants.
Algae can live in freshwater and in the ocean water, but there is also that live in humid places, such as the wall of the bathroom, the stones, the roof, or skin-tree bark. Algae also has other traits similar to that of Protists, that have the core membrane, some are multicellular and some are unicellular. Algae can be shaped yarn, sheets, or colonies of cells.
Reproduction of algae can do sexually and asexually. Sexually isogamy and done by oogamy. Isogamy happens if between the cells of the female and the male sex cells having the same size and difficult to distinguish. Oogami happens if between male sex cells and the female sex cells have different shapes and sizes and are easily distinguishable. From the fusion of two sex cells, fertilization will occur that produce a Zygote. The Zygote will continue to develop into new individuals.
Algae can be grouped according to the pigments into several groups, namely Brown algae (Phaeophyta), algae (Chrysophyta) blonde, a red algae (Rhodophyta), green algae (Chlorophyta), and algae Euglenophyta.
Is a single-celled algae Euglenophyta. Ordinary living Euglena in fresh water, for example, water ponds, rice fields, rivers, or ditch. Living creatures are green and photosynthetic, have chlorophyll, so put in a group of living creatures that resemble plants. Living things also had characteristics that resemble animals because it can move on, how to enter the cell through the mouth, food is not the white cells, and has spy spots so it’s a Euglena living creature that resemble animals and at the same time also the living creatures that resemble plants, for example, Euglenaviridis.
Characteristics of Euglena
Euglenamempunyai the characteristics as follows:
1) Are green because they contain chlorophyll,
2) Cells elongated oval,
3) On one end there is the mouth of the cells,
4) from its mouth appeared one flagellum (whip) which function as a tool of motion, and
5) has the eye-spots are located near the mouth of cells that serves to differentiate between dark and light.
How to Obtain Food Euglena
As organisms that resemble plants, Euglena can make their own food by photosynthesis. With the help of sunlight, living things can turn a chlorophyll into energy. In addition to photosynthetic, living creatures may also enter the food through the mouth so that the cells can be called as Euglena fotoautotrof organisms and organisms are heterotrophic.
How to Reproduce Euglena
Reproduction of Euglena does with splitting. This Division will be produced from two cells. Each cell child has a cell nucleus, cell membrane, and the cytoplasm.