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ALGA
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves
Synonyms:
alga; algae
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("alga" is a kind of...):
protoctist (any of the unicellular protists)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "alga"):
seaweed (plant growing in the sea, especially marine algae)
golden algae (algae having the pigments chlorophyll and carotene and xanthophyll)
yellow-green algae (any alga of the division Chrysophyta with its chlorophyll masked by yellow pigment)
diatom (microscopic unicellular marine or freshwater colonial alga having cell walls impregnated with silica)
confervoid algae (algae resembling confervae especially in having branching filaments)
brown algae (algae having the chlorophyll masked by brown and yellow pigments)
euglenid; euglenoid; euglenophyte (marine and freshwater green or colorless flagellate organism)
chlorophyte; green algae (algae that are clear green in color; often growing on wet ricks or damp wood or the surface of stagnant water)
chlorella (any alga of the genus Chlorella)
red algae (marine algae in which the chlorophyll is masked by a red or purplish pigment; source of agar and carrageenan)
cryptomonad; cryptophyte (common in fresh and salt water appearing along the shore as algal blooms)
Derivation:
algal (of or relating to alga)
Context examples:
These nutrients stimulate an overgrowth of algae that sinks, decomposes, and consumes the oxygen needed to support life in the Gulf.
(2015 Gulf of Mexico dead zone ‘above average’, NOAA)
They explained: Hydrogenase is an enzyme present in algae that is capable of reducing protons into hydrogen.
(Scientists pioneer a new way to turn sunlight into fuel, University of Cambridge)
Unlike red algae, whose blooms can damage the ecosystem, green algae form the basis of the food chain, providing food for crustaceans and larger organisms.
(Scientists report skyrocketing phyotplankton population in aftermath of Kīlauea eruption, Wikinews)
Lower phosphate levels pose challenges for algae, which are predicted to suffer as climate change makes ocean nutrients scarcer.
(Study reveals new patterns of key ocean nutrient, National Science Foundation)
"Removal of algae grazers such as herbivorous fish and sea urchins leads to increases in macroalgae, which then leads to increased organic carbon, contributing to the degradation of coral reefs," Weber adds.
(Microbes reflect the health of coral reefs, National Science Foundation)
Once deposited there, their iron content could be enough to boost the productivity of marine phytoplankton, feeding new blooms of these microscopic algae and altering ocean ecosystems.
(Sleeping sands of the Kalahari awaken after more than 10,000 years, NSF)
Deforestation cuts back on tree shadow on rivers, increases the number of river algae, which compete with fish for oxygen, and curtails the availability of food that comes from trees.
(Amazon fish ‘face new threats’, SciDev.Net)
CLE peptides are involved in cellular development and response to stress, and they are present throughout the plant kingdom, from green algae to flowering plants.
(Plant gene discovery could help reduce fertilizer pollution in waterways, National Science Foundation)
Plants, algae, and certain types of bacteria can pull CO2 out of the air and use it as a building block for sugars, proteins and other molecules in their bodies.
(Carbon hides in sediment, keeping oxygen in atmosphere, National Science Foundation)
Fertilizer washed away by rain winds up in streams, rivers, bays and lakes, feeding algae that can grow out of control, blocking sunlight and killing plant and animal life below.
(Bacteria Used to Create Fertilizer Out of Thin Air, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
