Abstract
Information on natural concentrations or variability of secondary metabolites in marine organisms may be important both to ecological/evolutionary and applied approaches. A gas chromatographic procedure with an electron capture detector (GC-ECD) was developed to quantify the sesquiterpenoid elatol at the surface and within-thalli of 70 specimens of the red seaweed Laurencia obtusa. The concentration of elatol was highest within-thalli [9.89 mg g−1 of L. obtusa, dry weight (d.w.)], compared to lower values found at the surface [0.006 mg g−1 of L.obtusa (d.w.), or 0.5–10.0 ng cm−2]. This method provides a rapid and inexpensive quantification of small quantities of elatol, and probably may also be used to quantify other halogenated compounds usually found in red seaweeds.
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The authors are grateful to CNPq and FAPERJ for financial support. Dr. Valéria L. Teixeira helped us in the isolation and identification of elatol. R.C.P. and D.B.S. gratefully acknowledge CNPq for providing a Research Productivity and MSc fellowships, respectively.
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Sudatti, D.B., Rodrigues, S.V. & Pereira, R.C. Quantitative GC-ECD Analysis of Halogenated Metabolites: Determination of Surface and Within-Thallus Elatol of Laurencia obtusa . J Chem Ecol 32, 835–843 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-006-9033-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-006-9033-z