Mainly, they are the result of type-specific pigments found in the plastids where photosynthesis takes place in seaweed cells. Besides their aesthetics, the different pigments are also well known for their biological effects. These include great antioxidant capacity, anti-inflammatory effects, stimulating the immune system and many more. It is just one of the many reasons our research focuses on seaweed in cosmetics. Although generally found in shallow waters, these seaweeds are able to withstand deep water and low-light conditions.
There are many species of red seaweed in the North Atlantic and New England waters, but three species are commonly seen along the shoreline of Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island: polysiphonia, red ceramium, and gracilaria. Polysiphonia is the most common genus of red seaweed. There are many species, but they are too similar to tell apart without a microscope.
Polysiphonia occurs mainly in protected shallow waters, often attaching itself to stones, shells, and eelgrass by its holdfast. Red ceramium will grow up to 10 inches long, often occurring in large tufts attached to just about any kind of substrate.
Gracilaria is common in quiet, shallow waters and is most abundant in the warm summer months. It is commonly found floating over muddy or sandy bay bottoms. Algal chemical ecology. London: Springer.
Macroalgal chemical defenses and their roles in structuring tropical marine communities. Green macroalgae, mainly species of Bryopsidales are abundant and widely distributed in tropical seas, and known to produce mainly sesquiterpenoid and diterpenoid compounds Blunt et al. Marine natural products. Natural Product Reports, vol.
Some of these metabolites have been implicated in well documented studies that evidenced its property as a chemical defense against grazing by several species of fishes Hay et al. Specialist herbivores reduce their susceptibility to predation by feeding on the chemically-defended seaweed Avrainvillea longicaulis. Limnology and Oceanography, vol. Feeding preferences of the surgeonfish Zebrasoma flavescens in relation to chemical defenses of tropical algae.
Marine Ecology Progress Series, vol. Responses of common SE Australian herbivores to three suspected invasive Caulerpa spp. Marine Biology, vol. Effect of plant toughness, calcification, and chemistry on herbivory by Dolabella auricularia.
Ecology, vol. Synergism in plant defenses against herbivores: interactions of chemistry, calcification, and plant quality. Within-plant variation in palatability and chemical defenses in the green seaweed Avrainvillea elliottii.
Botanica Marina, vol. Brown macroalgae produce terpenoids, acetogenins, and terpenoid-aromatic compounds of mixed biosynthetic origin as their most common secondary metabolites Blunt et al.
Artificial wounding decreases plant biomass and shoot strength of the brown seaweed Ascophyllum nodosum Fucales, Phaeophyceae. Lack of defense or phlorotannins induction by UV radiation or mesograzers in Desmarestia anceps and D.
Journal of Phycology, vol. Among brown algae, Dictyota species were the most studied species and they are known to produce chemicals capable of inhibiting fishes Cronin et al. Are tropical herbivores more resistant than temperate herbivores to seaweed chemical defenses? Diterpenoid metabolites from Dictyota acutiloba as feeding deterrents for tropical versus temperate fishes and urchins. Journal of Chemical Ecology, vol. A dolabellane diterpene from the brown alga Dictyota pfaffii as chemical defense against herbivores.
Feeding preferences of the endemic gastropod Astraea latispina in relation to chemical defenses of Brazilian tropical seaweeds. Chemotaxis and chemical defenses in seaweed susceptibility to herbivory. Revista Brasileira de Biologia, vol.
Effects of secondary metabolites from the tropical Brazilian brown alga Dictyota menstrualis on the amphipod Parhyale hawaiensis. Red species are the richest between other macroalgae in terms of secondary metabolite diversity and abundance Blunt et al. The chemistry of algal secondary metabolism. Among these chemicals, isoprenoid and acetogenin derivatives are recognised as the primary class of defensive metabolites in these algae Harper et al.
Introduction to the chemical ecology of marine natural products. Marine chemical ecology. CRC Press. Macroalgae secondary metabolites that deter herbivory can be qualitatively or quantitatively variable, but the intraspecific patterns of qualitative or quantitative variation in these chemicals are largely undocumented but see Van Alstyne et al.
Marine plant-herbivore interactions: the ecology of chemical defense. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, vol.
Resource allocation in seaweeds and marine invertebrates: chemical defense patterns in relation to defense theories. Chemical mediation of macroalgal herbivore interactions: ecological and evolutionary perspectives. For example, terpenoid compounds in macroalgae occur in relatively low concentrations, ranging from 0.
Chemical defense in tropical green algae, order Caulerpales. Natural products chemistry and chemical defense in tropical marine algae of the phylum Chlorophyta. Bioorganic marine chemistry. However, the variation in secondary metabolites content or compound-type may occur at a number of different levels: among individuals within a population Sudatti et al. Quantitative GC-ECD analysis of halogenated metabolites: determination of surface and within-thallus elatol of Laurencia obtusa.
Variation in chemical defenses against herbivory in Southwestern Atlantic Stypopodium zonale Phaeophyta. Species of Plocamium have been shown to be a rich source of terpenoids that vary for a given species depending on collection and season Naylor et al. Chemical and biological aspects of marine monoterpenes. Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products, vol. For example, different chemicals were verified in specimens of P.
Variations in the halogenated monoterpene metabolites of Plocamium cartilagineum and Plocamium violaceum. Phytochemistry, vol. High chemical and diversity variability were also verified in major compounds of different populations of P.
Acyclic polihalogenated monoterpneses from the red alga Plocamium violaceum. The Journal of Organic Chemistry, vol. Differences between specimens of different populations of P.
Interesting aspects of marine natural products chemistry.
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