Difference Between Macroalgae and Microalgae

Thekey differencebetween macroalgae and microalgae is thatmacroalgae are large and multicellular aquatic photosynthetic plant-like organisms while microalgae are small and unicellular aquatic photosynthetic plant-like organisms.

Algae are large polyphyletic, photosynthetic organisms that contain a diverse group of species. They range from unicellular microalgae such asChlorellato multicellular macroalgae such as giantkelp和brown algae. They are mostly aquatic andautotrophicin nature. They lack stomata, xylem and phloem, which are found in the land plants.

内容

1.Overview and Key Difference
2.What are Macroalgae
3.What are Microalgae
4.Similarities Between Macroalgae and Microalgae
5.Side by Side Comparison – Macroalgae vs Microalgae in Tabular Form
6.概括

What are Macroalgae?

Macroalgae are one of the two major types of algae. Macroalgae are large and multicellular. They are commonly referred to as ‘seaweeds’. They are marine organisms resembling big plants in the sea. Macroalgae can be seen without the aid of a microscope.

基于它们的颜色，有三组大藻类。它们是红藻，绿藻和棕色藻类。一些宏观藻类有一个固定的固定在沙子，船只和岩石上。此外，它们包含thallus，stipes，刀片，叶状和气隙。大型藻类在生物燃料生产中，作为食物或原料很重要。

What are Microalgae?

Microalgae are microscopic small plant-like organisms living in rivers, sea, ponds and lakes. Therefore, we need a microscope to observe microalgae. They are mainly unicellular organisms and some form colonies by grouping many cells together. Similar to plants, they are photosynthetic organisms having photosynthetic pigments and accessory pigments. They can be seen in blue-green, yellow, brown or orange in colour. They are commonly referred to asphytoplankton.

The two main groups of microalgae arediatoms和dinoflagellates. Dinoflagellates belong to the phylum Pyrrhophyta. They are marine, single-celled, eukaryotic algae which have a biflagellated structure. Meanwhile, diatoms, also called as Bacillariophyta, are single-celled, eukaryotic algae that have different shapes and a characteristic theca which is an external cell wall covering the cell. Microalgae cause algal blooms causing the water pollution. However, some microalgae provide foods for aquatic animals.

大藻类和微藻之间有什么相似之处？

• Macroalgae and microalgae are the two major types of algae.
• 它们是光合生物。
• They have photosynthetic pigments as well as accessory pigments.
• Both microalgae and macroalgae are potential sources of biofuel production.
• Moreover, they have nutritional value as well.
• 除此之外,他们还用在不同的城市ntal applications such as CO2 mitigation, wastewater treatment, biofertilizer production, pigment production, etc.

大藻类和微藻有什么区别？

大型藻类是我们肉眼可见的大型水生光合植物样生物。它们通常称为海藻。同时，微藻是小型水生光合植物样生物，仅在显微镜下可见。这些通常称为浮游植物。因此，这是大藻类和微藻之间的关键区别。除此之外，大藻类和微藻之间的另一个重要区别是大藻是多细胞的，但微藻是单细胞的。

Below infographic summarizes the difference between macroalgae and microalgae.

概括– Macroalgae vs Microalgae

There are two main types of algae as macroalgae and microalgae. Macroalgae are commonly known as seaweeds while microalgae are commonly known as phytoplankton. Macroalgae are large and multicellular aquatic photosynthetic plant-like organisms. Hence, they are visible to our naked eye. In contrast, microalgae are small and unicellular aquatic photosynthetic plant-like organisms. Therefore, they are visible only under the microscope. So, this is the key difference between macroalgae and microalgae. Nevertheless, both macroalgae and microalgae produce oxygen and contribute to food production in aquatic environments.

Reference:

1.“海藻。”维基百科，维基梅迪亚基金会，2020年3月3日，Available here.
2. Mostafa, Soha S.M. “Microalgal Biotechnology: Prospects and Applications.” IntechOpen, IntechOpen, 17 Sept. 2012,Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Fucus serratus 2015-09-08 ag M0010140” By Grubio–1 – Own work(CC BY-SA 4.0)viaCommons Wikimedia
2. “CSIRO ScienceImage 10697 Microalgae” By CSIRO(CC BY 3.0)viaCommons Wikimedia