NOBLE SCIENCE COLLEGE

LIFE HISTORY
OF Batrachospermum

Prepared By : Amolak Ubhadiya

M Sc (Botany)
Introduction :

 Batrachospermum is fresh water alga. It is

found in clear, cool and running streams.
 Deep water plants are dark violet or reddish in
colour. But the shallow water species are olive
green.
 The intensity of light changes the colour of
pigments.
 The thallus is attached to the substratum.
Systematic Position :
(Accoding to G. M. Smith…)

 Batrachospermum is a Red alga.

 Algae are chlorophyll bearing thallophytes in

which the sex oragan are either unicellular or
multicellular and not protected by sterile
envelope.
Division : Rhodophyta
 Thallus is non motile and complex.
 Pigment r – phycoerythrin which masks the
other pigments to give them a distinctive red
colour.
 Photosynthetic reserve – floridean Starch &
Floridoside.
 Motile reproductive cells are not found.
Class : Rhodophyceae
 Rhodophyta division contains only one class
Rhodophyceae.

Sub Class : Florideae

 Thallus basically filamentous
 Pit connection b/w sister cells.
 A pit connection is a hole in the septum b/w two
algal cells, and is found mostly in the red algae.
 Cells with more than one chomatophore.
 Carpogonium (Female sex Organ) highly specialized.
Order : Nemalionales
 Plants filamentous, corticated, (having a
cortex, bark) uni or multi axial.
 Cells uninucleate, chromatophores axial or
lateral.
 Cystocarp superfacial or deeply embedded in
the thallus.
 Cystocarp is the fruiting structure produced
in the red algae after fertilization
Family : Batrachospermaceae
 Inhabit fresh water.
 Thallus uniaxial.
 Life cycle Haplonbiontic.

Genus : Batrchospermum
 Main axis and branches free from one another.
 Branching appears Beaded.
 Threads embedded in large amount of mucilage.
Occurrence :

 Batrchospermum is a fresh water alga.

 It is commonly known as Frog Spawn.
 It is derived from Greek word

Batrachos – a frog
Sperma – Seed

 It is appears as the egg mass of frog.

 Itis grows in slow – moving water of streams,
lakes and ponds in tropical and temperate
regions.

 Some of its species are found attached to

stones in swift flowing acidic water of rivers.

 Most of the species of Batrachospermum are

annual but B. vagum is a parennial species.
 The genus is represented in all over world by
40 species.
 In India five species have been identified. i.e.
B. moniliformae & B. vagum
Thallus Structure :
 The mature thallus is branched, soft and
gelatinous, 15-20 cm long & Blue – Green,
Violet or Red in colour.
 The colour of the thallus depends on the
intensity of light available.
 Usually thalli growing in deep and shady
ponds and lakes are violet or dark red.
 Whereas those growing in shallow and
illuminated ponds are dark green in colour.
 The thallus is differentiated into prostrate and a
erect system.
 The prostrate branches anchor the thallus to the
substratum whereas the branches of the erect –
system float freely on water.
 The thallus is uniaxial and the main or primary
axis is made up of a uniseriate row of large
cylindrical cells.
 The axis is differentiated into nodes and internodes
and grow by a Dome shaped apical cells.
 From the nodes of the main axis two types of
lateral branches developed.

Branches of Limited Growth

Branches of Unlimited Growth

Branches of Limited Growth :

 They arise in whorls just below the septa of the

axils filament or from the branches of limited
growth.
 The whorl of branches of limited growth present at
a node is known as Glomerule.
 All branches in a glomerule are of nearly the same
length and they are made up of small moniliform
cells which give beaded appearance to the thallus.
 They are further branched or remain unbranched.
Glomerule :
Branches of Unlimited Growth :

 Branches of unlimited growth they develop

from nodal cells of the main axis or basal cells
of the branches of limited growth.

 They are also differentiated into nodes and

internodes and are enveloped by corticating
filaments.
 The cells of the nodal region in the basal mature
part of the axis and the basal cells of the
branches of limited growth give rise some
elongated filamentous cells, known as cortical
threads.

 The corticating filaments grow down wards to

the next node, forming envelope around the
internode and this envelops is called corticating
layer.
Cell Structure :

 The cells are long & cylindrical. It arranged end to

end in a single row.
 The cells are uninucleate with several discoid
chromatophores.
 It is surrounded by doubole layered wall and
contain a single pyrenoid.
 The main pigments are cholorophyll a, chlorophyll
d, r - phycoerythrin and r – phycocyanin, but due
to the excess of red pigment the green colour of
the chlorophyll is completely or partially naked.
 Golgibodies & Mitochondria are also present
in the cell.
 The reserve food is in form of floridean
Starch.
 The cells of the axial filament are inter
connected through pit connection. ( Cell to
Cell Transfer)
Reproduction :
 Batrachospermum reproduces by two
methods.

Sexual Reproduction

Asexual Reproduction
Sexual Reproduction
 SR is Oogamous type.
 Some species are Homothallic (Monoecious) &
Some Species are Heterothallic (Dioecious).

Monocious : Male Sex organ (Antheridia) and

Female Sex organ (Carpogonia) Developed in
same Plant or Thallus.
Dioecious : Male Sex organ (Antheridia) and
Female Sex organ (Carpogonia) Developed in
Different individual Plant or Thallus.
 The plant is Haploid Gametophyte.
 The Male Sex organ is Antheridium
(Spermantangium) & Female Sex organ
Carpogonium.
Spermantangium :

 Spermantangium is the male reproductive organ.

 It is unicellular, uninucleate, spherical or globose
and colourless structure.
 It is develop singly or in a pairs at the distal ends
of the branches of limited growth.
 Spermantangium is diffrentiated into three layer
i.e. outer thick layer, a middle gelatinous and an
inner thin layer.
 Each spermatangium bears a single spermatium.
Spermantangium of
Batrachospermum
Carpogonium :

 Carpogonium is the Female reproductive

organ.
 It is flask shape structure.

 Itis differentiated to basal swollen egg cell

and a long narrow neck, called Tricogyne.

 The protoplast of the egg and the tricogyne

receives the male gamete.
Carpogonium of Batrachospermum
 Carpogonium develop on special lateral branch
know as carpogonial Branch.
 This branch is only 3-5 celled and develop by
repeated division of basal cells of the branch of
limited growth.
 The terminal cell of carpogonial branch forms a
flask shaped carpogonium.
 The subterminal cell, situated just below the
carpogonium is called hypogynous or supporting
cell.
Fertilization :

 The Spermatia after their liberation from

spermatangia are carried passively by water
current to the trichogyne of the carpogonium.
 When a spermatium comes in contact with the
trichogyne and the spermatium dissolves at the
point of their contact.
 A male & female nuclei fuse in the basal portion
of the carpogonium a form a Diploid zygote.
 After fertilization the trichogyne shrivels.
Post – Fertilization Chages :

 After fertilization the diploid nucleus of the

zygote divides meiotically, resulting into four
haploid nuclei.
 These nuclei divide mitotically and form
many daughter nuclei.
 At this stage, many outgrowth arise from basal
part of the carpogonium and a haploid
daughter nucleus passes into each out growth.
 These outgrowth with haploid nuclei are called
Gonimoblast initials.
 Repeated transverse division of gonimoblast
initials give rise to a number of small
unbranched or branched gonimoblast filaments.
 The terminal cell of these filaments function as
carposporangium.
 A single carpospore is formed in each
carposporangium.
 The lower sterile cells of the gonimoblast
filaments give rise to many sterile filaments
which form an envelope around the
carpospore and gonimoblast filaments.
 These composite structure is known as
Cystocarp or Carposporophyte.
Germination of Carpospores :
 Carpospores get themselves attached to the substratum
and on germination each carpospore forms a protonema
like structure which eventually gives rise to a
heterotrichous system.
 This represent the juvenile stage of Batrachospermum
known as ‘Chantransia Stage’
 Previously chantransia was supposed to be an
independent algal genus but now it has been established
that all species of chantransia represent a phase in the
life cycle of batrachospermum. The chantransia phase
can reproduce itself.
Asexual Reproduction :

 Asexual reproduction take place by means of

uninucleate, haploid and non motile monospores.
 These spores are formed in the chantransia stage.
 The monospores developes from the erect
branches of chantransia stage of
Batrachospermum.
 Each monosporangium develops into a single
monospore.
 Each monospore again germinates into a
heterotrichous, protonemaa called chatansia
stage.
 The erect branches of this heterotrichous
juvenile stage give rise to adult
Batrachospermum plants.
Alternation of Generation :

 Thethallus of batrachospermum is a haploid

gametophyte.

 Itreproduce male and female gametes ehich

fuse togather to form diploid zygote.

 The zygote undergoes meiosis and the haploid

cells develop into a carposporophyte.
 The carposporophyte contains gonimoblast
filaments, carposporangia and carpospores
germinates into chantrasia stage. It is also
haploid.

 The life cycle of batrachospermum shows

alternation of generations.

 Thehaploid phase is dominant and the diploid

phase is represented by the zygote only.
 So the life cycle is haplobinotic. The haploid
phase is triphasic or trigenic having haploid
gametophyte, haploid carposporophyte and
haploid chantransia stage. Hence the life cycle
is haplontic.
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