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A pilot-scale study of the vegetative propagation and suspended cultivation of the carrageenophyte alga Gigartina skottsbergii in southern Chile

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Abstract

Different propagation techniques for cultivation of vegetative Gigartina skottsbergii fronds were tested using a system of suspended ropes, to which inoculants were attached. Our results showed that triangular fragments obtained from the circular G. skottsbergii thalli produced harvestable frond of 800 cm2 after 8 months. In contrast, inoculants of intact juvenile fronds of comparable size needed at least 10 months to reach the same size. A control experiment with spores developing on an artificial substrate showed that 20 months were needed to reach a surface of 500 cm2, confirming the superiority of our fragment culture system. A pilot study demonstrated that with a density of six fronds m−1 of farming line, the proposed system can be economically interesting for local fishermen.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by FONDECYT 1951203 and FONDAP Subprograma Algas grants. The authors thank the strong field support from Dr. Westermeier’s students and Dr. Dieter Müller for helpful corrections, and two anonymous reviewers for constructive criticism that helped improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Acuicultura, Sede Puerto Montt, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 1327, Puerto Montt, Chile

    Renato Westermeier, David J. Patiño, Pedro Murúa & Juan C. Quintanilla

  2. Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114 D, Santiago, Chile

    Juan Correa

  3. Centro Investigación y Desarrollo en Recursos y Ambientes Costeros (i–mar), Universidad de Los Lagos, Casilla 557, Puerto Montt, Chile

    Alejandro H. Buschmann

  4. Escuela de Ingeniería Comercial, Sede Puerto Montt, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 1327, Puerto Montt, Chile

    Ismael Barros

Authors
  1. Renato Westermeier
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  2. David J. Patiño
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  3. Pedro Murúa
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  4. Juan C. Quintanilla
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  5. Juan Correa
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  6. Alejandro H. Buschmann
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  7. Ismael Barros
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Correspondence to Renato Westermeier.

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Westermeier, R., Patiño, D.J., Murúa, P. et al. A pilot-scale study of the vegetative propagation and suspended cultivation of the carrageenophyte alga Gigartina skottsbergii in southern Chile. J Appl Phycol 24, 11–20 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-010-9640-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-010-9640-5

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