Abstract
The chlorophyll-containing photosynthetic organisms grouped under the term algae have long been of great interest as subjects of research and for their possible applications in a wide variety of fields. Compared to higher plants, algae are found in a much wider range of habitats and have a variety of photosynthetic pigments other than chlorophyll a. Taxonomically, they include the prokaryotic Cyanobacteria and a diversity of eukaryotic phyla. The microalgae, which are the focus of this book, are those small, mainly unicellular, sometimes colonial or filamentous, and usually microscopic members of the algae. The microalgae are of particular interest to biotechnology, as they can grow very rapidly and because of the great variety of environmental conditions they can grow in. They are also taxonomically extremely diverse, and this diversity is reflected in the variety of metabolic pathways and the range of secondary metabolites produced. The microalgae also are the major source of O2, which is produced by the phytoplankton, and an important source of fixed nitrogen, produced by the N2-fixing cyanobacteria...