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Analysis of functional traits in female gametophytic and tetrasporophytic life phases of industrially important red alga Gracilaria dura (Rhodophyta: Gracilariacae)

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Abstract

The rhodophyte seaweed genus Gracilaria is fast replacing Gelidium in global agar trade. Recently, Gracilaria dura from Indian waters has emerged as species of choice due to its quality agarose. The triphasic life cycle provides an opportunity for selecting an elite cultivar. Here we report diversity pertaining to functional traits over 3 months (January, February and March) among two distinct life phases, the tetrasporophyte and the female gametophyte. It was evident that functional trait related to growth was distinct in tetrasporophytes than in female gametophytes; while those of survival (antioxidant, proximate composition and pigments) were prominent in female gametophytes. Both the lowest 3.42 ± 0.38% day−1 (female gametophytes) and highest 5.17 ± 0. 21% day−1 (terasporophytes) growth rates were in January with 33% higher growth in the latter. Of the survival traits, antioxidant potential ranged from 0.51 ± 0.08 to 1.1 ± 0.03 mg g−1 FW ascorbic acid equivalent. Furthermore, female gametophytes collected in March reported 53.60%, 28.40% and 50.40% higher activity than the tetrasporophytes of January, February and March, respectively. The female gametophyte in March showed 23% and 19.40% higher protein content than the tetrasporophytes of January and February, respectively. Sixty-one metabolites were identified of which 29 were common, with sugars as the major portion (77.69% in February to 89.38% in January) and amine derivatives the least (0.30% in January to 0.51% in February). Studies of bio-ecophysiology of this alga are currently being undertaken by our group.

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Acknowledgements

The first author gratefully acknowledges the University Grant Commission (UGC). We are grateful to the Director, CSIR-CSMCRI for the encouragement. Thanks are also due to Dr. Monica G. Kavale for identifying life cycle phases during sampling and Mr. K. Vijayanand for helping in statistical analysis. Dr. Nikunj Balar, Ms. Tejal Gajaria, Mr. Shahrukh Siddiqui, Mr. Prashant More and Mr. Smit Goswami have rendered support during manuscript preparation.

Funding

This work was carried out by a grant received from Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, Government of India.

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  1. Division of Applied Phycology and Biotechnology, CSIR-Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Gijubhai Badheka Marg, Bhavnagar, 364002, India

    Kanchan Sambhwani, Jaskeerat Modi, Ankita Singhala, Avinash Mishra & Vaibhav A. Mantri

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India

    Kanchan Sambhwani, Avinash Mishra & Vaibhav A. Mantri

  3. Analytical and Environmental Science Division and Centralized Instrument Facility, CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Bhavnagar, 364002, India

    Harshad Bramhabatt

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  1. Kanchan Sambhwani
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Sambhwani, K., Modi, J., Singhala, A. et al. Analysis of functional traits in female gametophytic and tetrasporophytic life phases of industrially important red alga Gracilaria dura (Rhodophyta: Gracilariacae). J Appl Phycol 32, 1961–1969 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-020-02116-1

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