Green Algae Storage & Pigments — NEET Biology
✅ Asked in NEET 2022Which of the following is incorrectly matched? [NEET 2022 Phase 1]
Which of the following is incorrectly matched? [NEET 2022 Phase 1]
Which of the following pairs is of unicellular algae?
Answer & NCERT explanation
Correct answer: A — Ulothrix – Mannitol
Ulothrix is a green alga (Chlorophyceae) that stores starch, not mannitol. Mannitol is the storage product of brown algae (Phaeophyceae). According to NCERT, each algal class has specific storage products: green algae store starch, brown algae store mannitol/laminarin, and red algae store floridean starch. The other matches are correct - Porphyra (red alga) has floridean starch, Volvox (green alga) has starch, and Ectocarpus (brown alga) has fucoxanthin.
Read more NCERT concept on the PYQ
The members of chlorophyceae are commonly called green algae. The plant body may be unicellular, colonial or filamentous. They are usually grass green due to the dominance of pigments chlorophyll a and b. The pigments are localised in definite chloroplasts. The chloroplasts may be discoid, plate-like, reticulate, cup-shaped, spiral or ribbon-shaped in different species. Most of the members have one or more storage bodies called pyrenoids located in the chloroplasts. Pyrenoids contain protein besides starch. Some algae may store food in the form of oil droplets. Green algae usually have a rigid cell wall made of an inner layer of cellulose and an outer layer of pectose. Vegetative reproduction usually takes place by fragmentation. Asexual reproduction is by flagellated zoospores produced in zoosporangia. The sexual reproduction shows considerable variation in the type and formation of sex cells and it may be isogamous, anisogamous or oogamous. Some commonly found green algae are: Chlamydomonas, Volvox, Ulothrix, Spirogyra and Chara.
NTA tests whether you know that green algae store food as starch in pyrenoids, NOT as mannitol or oil (which brown and red algae use). Students often confuse storage products across algal groups—remember chlorophyceae = starch, phaeophyceae = mannitol. Also note that green algae have chlorophyll a and b in definite chloroplasts of varied shapes, making them grass-green. The key distinction: pyrenoids are starch-storing structures unique to green algae. When comparing algal groups, always match the correct storage compound to the correct class.
What does NCERT say about members chlorophyceae are commonly?
Has this concept appeared in NEET?
Which chapter is this from?
Through deep analysis of NEET and NTA, 88 of 90 questions from the NEET 2026 paper were matched straight from the MedicNEET Biology question bank.
88/90MedicNEET's Biology question bank is built from the same NCERT lines NTA picks repeatedly. Not random MCQs — questions crafted exactly like NTA crafts them.