104 



THE METABOLISM OF ALGAE 



Although often chemically ill-defined, polysaccharides 

 sometimes have a characteristic appearance or staining reac- 

 tion which assists in the identification of a species. In some 

 cases the characteristics of the carbohydrate metabolism of 

 algal classes can be defined more precisely. The Phaeo- 

 phyceae and Rhodophyceae, for example, are characterized 



TABLE 9 



BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ALGAL CLASSES 



(see refs. io6, 107 and references in the text) 



