Primary metabolites variation of Rhodophyta species from antarctic and subantarctic regions

• Grant number: 16/03062-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): October 01, 2016
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Pant Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Nair Sumie Yokoya
• Grantee: Cesar Bertagia Pasqualetti
• Host Institution: Instituto de Botânica. Secretaria do Meio Ambiente (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The seasons are very typical in the polar regions, with long periods of low light because of the polar night and the ice cover during the winter, and a few hours of darkness between long periods of light during the summer. To survive at such conditions, biochemical and physiological adaptation strategies are required by macroalgae, ensuring protection and food in the dark period, making them resistant to wave action, freezing, desiccation and salinity variations. Therefore, the main objective of the present study is to determine the quantity and quality of low molecular weight carbohydrates, proteins and pigments of Rhodophyta species from Antarctic and Subantarctic regions, assessing the involvement of these metabolites in survival strategies in algae subjected to such extreme environments, and possible variations in different species and sites. The evaluation of these metabolites consist of the quantification of reducing and total carbohydrates, followed by chromatographic analysis to verify the chemical diversity of these compounds, analysis of the quantity and quality of sulfated galactans and quantification of floridean starch, providing data about carbohydrate metabolism in survival strategies. The quantification of proteins and photosynthetic pigments added the carbohydrate analysis will contribute to understand the adaptive capacity of Rhodophyta species to extreme environments.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ARAUJO, PATRICIA GUIMARAES; SOUZA, JONATAS M. C.; PASQUALETTI, CESAR B.; YOKOYA, NAIR S.. Auxin and cytokinin combinations improve growth rates and protein contents in Laurencia catarinensis (Rhodophyta). JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYCOLOGY, v. 33, n. 2, JAN 2021. (17/13259-3, 16/03062-5)