Microalgae of economic potential

Algae are photosynthetic, nonvascular plants that contain chlorophyll-a and have simple reproductive structures. Algae exhibit a remarkable diversity of form and size, and exist in nearly every environment. The brown kelps up to 70 m in length, the flagellated swimming green cells 1 µm in diameter, green scum floating in a pond, sargasso weed in the massive Atlantic gyre, and organisms responsible for coloration on mountain snow are all algae. 1 Algae, as well as other organisms, can be classified both for convenience and to show relationships. The plant kingdom, to which the algae belong, is divided into equivalent categories (divisions). Further subgroups, in descending order, are family, genus, and species.