Question

Is algae an example of prokaryotes?

Answer 1

Prokaryotes are the single-celled microscopic organisms. They do not possess nucleus with nuclear membrane and not even the specialized organelles. Prokaryotes is a Greek word that can be broken down as- pro which means before and karyon which means nut or kernel.

Complete answer:
Let us first discuss algae to come to the conclusion. Algae comes from a predominantly aquatic photosynthetic group of organisms, grouped under the kingdom protista. They possess various kinds of life cycles as well as vary in size from microscopic species to reaching 200 feet in length. These can be unicellular like diatoms and dinoflagellates and can be multicellular like brown algae and giant kelps. Anatomically, they bear most features that are similar to photosynthetic plants. They lack vascular tissues that function to circulate nutrients and water throughout the body.
Prokaryotes constitute primitive organisms like bacteria and Archaea. Their DNA is circular and is present as a nucleoid. They are all necessarily unicellular. These all are the characteristics that oppose the characteristics of algae, which is a eukaryotic organism.

Hence, from the above discussion it is clear that algae is not an example of Prokaryotes.

Note:
The term algae comes from a Latin word that means seaweed. These are mostly motile and can exist even in colonies. These possess cell walls whose most part is made up from cellulose while some part contains pectin. Reproduction in them can either be by sexual or asexual. However, when we talk about red and green algae they show both types of reproduction in their life cycle.