Acronym CTLIGHT
Category
Aquaculture
Title Effects of light on the photobiology and growth of the commercially valuable macroalgae Codium tomentosum Programme Nat. Programme (supported by ESIF)
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National-European Coordinator Paulo SD Cartaxana Coordinator email NA
Coordinator institution
CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (Portugal)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2018 End year 2022 Funding (€) € 239,995 Website https://www.cesam-la.pt/projetos/ctlight-efeitos-da-luz-na-fotobiologia-e-crescimento-da-macroalga-de-valor-comercial-codium-tomentosum/ Summary "Portugal has one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world and a coastline of approximately 950 km in length, which makes marine resources and aquaculture vital sectors of the Portuguese economy. The macroalgae Codium tomentosum (Chlorophyta) is currently produced by the company ALGAplus in an integrated multitrophic aquaculture system and sold for human consumption (gourmet catering) and production of cosmetics with pharmaceutical properties. This aquaculture system integrates the production of fish (e.g. sea bass and sea bream) and macroalgae (e.g. Codium, Porphyra, Ulva) using the nutrient-rich effluents from the fish tanks to stimulate plant production. In the integrated multitrophic system, the nutrient load of the effluents is significantly reduced and is therefore an option for sustainable development. Under these conditions, the yield in macroalgae biomass culture is potentially high, but its production requires optimization. Large-scale cultivation of macroalgae in an open system benefits from the cost-free use of natural sunlight, but may encounter photoinhibition problems. If it is true that light is a fundamental parameter for photosynthesis, high light intensities lead to the production of oxygen free radicals that damage the photosynthetic system, reducing growth and productivity.
In this project, the production of C. tomentosum will be carried out under different light intensity and spectrum conditions (using neutral filters and wavelength-selective panels). The main objective of this proposal is to understand the effects of light (quantity and quality) on photosynthetic performance, pigment and protein composition and growth of this algae in an integrated multitrophic system. The mechanisms of photoprotection of macroalgae acclimatized to different conditions will be studied using different methodological approaches, combining ecophysiology (measurement of photosynthesis by conventional pulse modulated fluorometry and imaging), biochemical (identification and concentration of pigments, protein content, enzymatic activity) and molecular (quantification of proteins by immunodetection, transcriptome analysis) techniques. The biological material will be harvested from the Portuguese coast and compared with a domesticated variety of C. tomentosum currently produced at ALGAplus. The ultimate goal will be the optimization of light utilization in cultivation systems."
Keywords
Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA);
Biology;
Algae;
Marine Region
0
NA
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