chapter 1 Introduction -- chapter 2 Algae in the warp and weave of life: bound by plastids -- chapter 3 Evolution and relationships of algae: major branches of the tree of life -- chapter 4 Classification and diatom systematics: the past, the present, and the future -- chapter 5 The taxonomy of cyanobacteria: molecular insights into a difficult problem -- chapter 6 Molecular systematics of red algae: building future structures on firm foundations -- chapter 7 Systematics of the green algae: conflict of classic and modern approaches -- chapter 8 In the shadow of giants: systematics of the charophyte green algae -- chapter 9 The chlorarachniophytes: evolution and classification -- chapter 10 Molecular systematics of Haptophyta -- chapter 11 Decrypting cryptomonads: a challenge for molecular taxonomy -- chapter 12 On dinoflagellate phylogeny and classification -- chapter 13 Molecular genetics and the neglected art of diatomics -- chapter 14 Classification of the Phaeophyceae from past to present and current challenges -- chapter 15 Molecular systematics of the Chrysophyceae and Synurophyceae -- chapter 16 A decade of euglenoid molecular phylogenetics -- chapter 17 The contribution of genomics to the understanding of algal evolution -- chapter 18 Algal molecular systematics: a review of the past and prospects for the future.