ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION -- The Chloroplast Division Machinery: Origin and Evolution -- Evolutionary History and Taxonomy of Red Algae -- GENERAL STUDIES OF RHODOPHYTA -- Invasive and Alien Rhodophyta in the Mediterranean and along the Israeli Shores -- The Extreme Environments of Porphyra, a Fast Growing and Edible Red Marine Macroalga -- Investigations on Reproductive Affinities in Red Algae -- Taxonomic Revisions of Freshwater Rhodophyta in Recent Years -- GENOMIC STUDIES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY -- Porphyra: Complex Life Histories in a Harsh Environment: P. umbilicalis, an Intertidal Red Alga for Genomic Analysis -- Utilizing Red Algae to Understand a Neurodegenerative Disease -- Coordination of Nuclear and Plastid Gene Expression in Red Algae and Green Plants -- Plastid Evolution and the Nuclear Genomic "Footprint" of Red and Green Algal Endosymbionts -- Red Microalgae: From Basic Know-How to Biotechnology -- Red Algal Genomics: A Synopsis -- Bangiophytes: From one Class to Six; Where Do We Go from Here? -- Genomic Contributions to Understanding the Evolution of Red Algal Plastids and Pigment Biosynthesis -- How Have Genome Studies Improved Our Understanding of Organelle Evolution and Metabolism in Red Algae? -- Computational Gene Prediction in Eukaryotic Genomes -- Developments in Biotechnology of Red Algae -- CYANIDIA -- Overview on Cyanidian Biology -- The Cyanidiales: Ecology, Biodiversity, and Biogeography -- Mechanisms of Acido-Tolerance and Characteristics of Photosystems in an Acidophilic and Thermophilic Red Alga, Cyanidium Caldarium -- Redox-Modification of Chloroplast Enzymes in Galdieria Sulphuraria: Trial-and-Error in Evolution or Perfect Adaptation to Extreme Conditions? -- The Thermo-Acidophilic Cyanidiophyceae (Cyanidiales) -- Chilean Cave Cyanidium -- BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY -- Low Molecular Weight Carbohydrates in Red Algae - an Ecophysiological and Biochemical Perspective -- Red Algal Defenses in the Genomics Age -- OUTLOOK AND SUMMARY -- Summary, Final Comments and Conclusions. This volume covers the modern biology and the speciation of the red algae (Rhodophyta) from unicellular Cyanidia up to macrocellular sea weeds. A team of peer reviewers has reviewed all chapters. The chapters describe a range of topics from cave algae from Atacama, Chile, to genomes of red algae. Some chapters deal with the carbohydrates, physiological mechanisms, and realtionship between red algae and neurodegenerative disease. Other chapters deal with organellar - nuclear genes and taxonomic revision. Emphasis is placed upon the rhodophytan chloroplast, its origin, evolution, division machinery and pigmentation. The reader will find in this book lots of new information on the red algae.