Zhen Liu , Yeping Han

Institute of Life Science, Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Marine Science, 2025, Vol. 15, No. 2   doi: 10.5376/ijms.2025.15.0010
Received: 12 Mar., 2025    Accepted: 15 Apr., 2025    Published: 26 Apr., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Liu Z., and Han Y.P., 2025, Phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of major algal lineages: a comprehensive review, International Journal of Marine Science, 15(2): 107-117 (doi: 10.5376/ijms.2025.15.0010)

Algae, as important photosynthetic organisms on the earth, occupy a fundamental position in the global carbon cycle, oxygen supply and marine food networks. Algae lineage research is a key means to reveal the origin and evolution mechanism of their diversity. In recent years, large-scale genomic and transcriptome data have provided rich information for analyzing algae lineages, and joint multigene analysis has revealed the complex relationships between different groups such as red algae, green algae, brown algae, and dinoflagea. This study outlines the importance of algae in ecosystems and the current research status; systematically introduces the main group characteristics of prokaryotic algae (cyanobacteria) and eukaryotic algae (green algae, brown algae, red algae, etc.) by classification; then discusses the contribution of molecular phylogenetic evidence to algae evolution research, including comparison of nuclear genes and chloroplast genes, multigene joint analysis and the application of "omics" methods in phylogenetic construction; reviews the approaches to the evolution of chloroplasts (primary, secondary and tertiary endosymbiosis) and photosynthetic pigment evolution; further analyzes the phylogenetic relationships of major algae lineages (red algae, green algae, brown algae, cryptoalgae, diatoms, dinoflagellate, etc.); discusses the molecular clock estimation of algae origin and its connection with geological events (such as snowball earth); and finally explains the implications and application prospects of algae phylogenetic research on global carbon cycle, biodiversity conservation and biotechnology development. This study seeks to integrate the latest research progress and analyze the controversial analysis, providing a systematic perspective for understanding the origin and evolution of major algae lineages.

Algae phylogenetic; Endosymbiosis; Chloroplast origin; Photosynthetic pigment; Molecular clock