Coralline Algae

This book is the first step at pulling together the voluminous but scattered information on coralline algae. Much can be said about these omnipresent plants of the sea, and the purpose here is to provide a coherent frame work of data and discussion.

When Biology of the Red Algae was first published in 1990, it was the first comprehensive monograph to be written on the Rhodophyta in over fifteen years. This book presents an authoritative review on the state of knowledge on the biology of the red algae. Written by a group of 26 internationally renowned experts, the eighteen chapters of Biology of the Red Algae range from molecular and cellular to biochemical, physiological, organismal, and ecological aspects of this important group of algae. Together they will be of interest for students of oceanography and plant evolution.

r ed Algae in Genome Age book most people reading this book have childhood memories about being enthralled at the beach with those rare and mysterious living forms we knew as seaweeds. We were fascinated at that time by their range of red hues and textures, and most of all, their exotic beauty. t o a scientist, red algae represent much more than apparent features. t heir complex forms have attracted morphologists for centuries; their intricate life cycles have brought more than one surprise to plant biologists familiar only with ferns and fowering plants; their unusual tastes have been appreciated for mill- nia, and their valuable chemical constituents have been exploited for nearly as long, most recently by biotech companies; their diversity in marine, freshwater, and t- restrial environments has offered centuries of engaging entertainment for botanists eager to arrange them in orderly classifcation systems; still, the red algae continue to teach us how many more challenges need to be overcome in order to understand their biodiversity, biological functions, and evolutionary histories.

This book is the first step at pulling together the voluminous but scattered information on coralline algae. Much can be said about these omnipresent plants of the sea, and the purpose here is to provide a coherent frame work of data and discussion.