Acronym NA
Category
Aquaculture
Title Cultivation and halogen compounds yields of Bonnemaisoniaceae red seaweeds 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 Rui Orlando Pimenta Santos Coordinator email rosantos@ualg.pt
Coordinator institution
CCMAR - Centre for Marine Sciences (Portugal)
Institutions involved
FFCUL - University of Lisbon; Foundation of the Faculty of Sciences (Portugal) ,
Start year 2004 End year 2008 Funding (€) € 81,000 Website https://www.fct.pt/apoios/projectos/consulta/vglobal_projecto?idProjecto=56956&idElemConcurso=76 Summary Seaweeds are an interesting source of biologically active compounds that can be used as a source for cosmetics against human pathogenic microorganisms. If cultivated in the effluents of fish holding units, they provide both biofiltration of the water and a marketable product. In a research financed by the E.U. SEAPURA project (Q5RS-2000-31334), the proponent investigation team evaluated the feasibility of fish farm effluent-integrated production of Falkenbergia rufolanosa, the tetrasporophyte of the red seaweed Asparagopsis armata (Harvey; Bonnemaisoniaceae) with emphasis on seaweed yield and biofiltration. As a result of this research, a patent was submitted on the production, extraction and application of the halogenated compounds of the species, which may be marketed for a wide range of applications in cosmetics, preservatives and antifouling. The aim of this proposal is to develop further this research, namely investigating the effects of different cultivation conditions on the productivity of different species/strains of Bonnemaisoniaceae and on the yield of secondary metabolites, so that the commercial cultivation can be optimised. To achieve this objective it is essential to establish unialgal stock cultures in the lab to provide biomass both for the lab experiments and to initiate outdoor mass cultivation. Experiments will be performed in chemostats, which supply the cultures with a continuous and controlled flux of fresh medium, to assess the temperature, light, salinity, inorganic carbon and nutrients effects on photosynthesis, pigment content, elemental composition, growth and halogen yield and bioactivity of biomass extracts. The photosynthesis capacity of algae will be assessed as the CO2 net consumption measured with an infrared gas analyser (IRGA) in culture flasks. The advantage of this method is that it measures the whole cultivation batch with the plants circulating, which determines a complex pattern of light availability that emulates the outdoor mass cultivation in tanks. Halogenated compounds of the biomass cultured at different conditions will be extracted with dichloromethane and the structures of the extracts will be deduced from GC-MS and quantified by GC-FID. The antibacterial activity of the samples will be tested against Staphylococcus epidermis, an important target bacteria in the cosmetic industry, using the agar diffusion method.<br>The results obtained will reveal the species/strains that better adapts to the local outdoor cultivation with a high bioactivity. A mass cultivation of a selected alga will be developed in marine theme park of Algarve during one full year to establish the sustainability of the mass cultivation system. The biofiltration capacity of the aquarium nutrients, the biomass yield and its polyhalogenated metabolites and antimicrobial activity at different seasons, will be monitored during this period.
Keywords
Open sea aquaculture;
Bioactive compounds;
Aquaculture diversification;
Engineering;
Antibacterial;
Biotechnology;
Aquaculture development;
Marine Region
38
Portuguese Waters (27.IXa,27.IXb)
1
Marine Region Map
