Abstract
Main Conclusion
Among seaweed groups, brown algae had characteristically high concentrations of mannitol, and green algae were characterised by fructose. In red algae, metabolite profiles of individual species should be evaluated.
Seaweeds are metabolically different from terrestrial plants. However, general metabolite profiles of the three major seaweed groups, the brown, red, and green algae, and the effect of various extraction methods on metabolite profiling results have not been comprehensively explored. In this study, we evaluated the water-soluble metabolites in four brown, five red, and two green algae species collected from two sites in northern Japan, located in the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean. Freeze-dried seaweed samples were processed by methanol–water extraction with or without chloroform and analysed by capillary electrophoresis- and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for metabolite characterisation. The metabolite concentration profiles showed distinctive characteristic depends on species and taxonomic groups, whereas the extraction methods did not have a significant effect. Taxonomic differences between the various seaweed metabolite profiles were well defined using only sugar metabolites but no other major compound types. Mannitol was the main sugar metabolites in brown algae, whereas fructose, sucrose, and glucose were found at high concentrations in green algae. In red algae, individual species had some characteristic metabolites, such as sorbitol in Pyropia pseudolinearis and panose in Dasya sessilis. The metabolite profiles generated in this study will be a resource and provide guidance for nutraceutical research studies because the information about metabolites in seaweeds is still very limited compared to that of terrestrial plants.
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Abbreviations
- CE:
-
Capillary electrophoresis
- MS:
-
Mass spectrometry
- LC:
-
Liquid chromatography
- NMR:
-
Nuclear magnetic resonance
- GC:
-
Gas chromatography
- PCA:
-
Principle component analysis
- MeOH:
-
Methanol
- CHCl3 :
-
Chloroform
- H2O:
-
Water
- MES:
-
2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid
- CSA:
-
d-camphor-10-sulfonic acid
- IS:
-
Internal standard
- ESI:
-
Electrospray ionisation
- TOF:
-
Time-of-flight
- SD:
-
Standard deviation
- Asp:
-
Aspartate
- Glu:
-
Glutamate
- Asn:
-
Asparagine
- Pro:
-
Proline
- Gly:
-
Glycine
- Phe:
-
Phenylalanine
- Arg:
-
Arginine
- Trp:
-
Tryptophan
- Ala:
-
Alanine
- Ser:
-
Serine
- Gln:
-
Glutamine
- DNA:
-
Deoxyribonucleic acid
- HPLC:
-
High-performance liquid chromatography
- 3PG:
-
3-Phosphoglycerate
- 2PG:
-
2-Phosphoglycerate
- 2AB:
-
2-Aminobutyrate
- G6P:
-
Glucose-6-phosphate
- kV:
-
Kilovolt
- i.d.:
-
Inner diameter
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Acknowledgements
For samples collection and species identification, the authors would like to thank all those who have contributed directly or indirectly in this research; all staffs of Muroran Marine Station, Yamagata Prefecture Fisheries Experiment Station, and Mr. Yohichi Homma, fishermen from Wasada port (Tsuruoka city). This study was funded by the Yamagata prefectural government and Tsuruoka city. It was also supported by a scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), Japan, for an international student (Hamid, S.S).
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Hamid, S.S., Wakayama, M., Ichihara, K. et al. Metabolome profiling of various seaweed species discriminates between brown, red, and green algae. Planta 249, 1921–1947 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-019-03134-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-019-03134-1