STUDIES ON COLOR TYPE VARIANTSFROM MUTAGENIZED PROTOPLASTS OFPORPHYRA HAITANENSIS CHANG ET ZHENG& P. YEZOENSIS UEDA (RHODOPHYCEASE )

Isolated protoplasts from thalli of Porphyra haitanensis and Porphyra yezoensis were treated with colchicine or irradiated by ultraviolet (UV ). Several types of color variants were observed among the protoplast offspring. After treatment with colchicine: (1) 0.04-0.09% of red type variants in P. haitanensis were obtained; (2) The rate of red type variants and the variegated chimeral thalli composed of red type and wild type of sectors were 6.31- 1.11% in P. yezoensis. After irradiation with UV: (1) 3.5- 10.5% of red type variants in P. yezoensis were obtained: (2) 0.5-2-0% of red type variants and the variegated chimeral thalli composed of red type and wild type of sectors were obtained in P. haitanensis. Colchicine and UV's mutangenic effects on P. yezoensis protoplasts were stronger than those on P. haitanensis protoplasts. The most efficient concentration of colchicine was 0.05%. The optimal length of UV-radiation was 1/2 min (radiation distance 5 cm). The red type variants induced, by colchicine tr     

Study on monospore-like cells fromPorphyra haitanensis

Porphyra haitanensis andP. yezoensis are two mainPorphyra species cultured in China. Their life histories are slightly different. So far we have not observed thatP. haitanensis naturally produces monospores developing into thalli.P. yezoensis produces monospores which directly germinate into young thalli used in cultivation (Zeng, et al., 1985). Some somatic cells inP. yezoensis develop in vitro into monospore-like cells which later grow into young thalli (Lu, 1983). Studies on whether or not somatic cells inP. haitanensis can produce in vitro monospore-like cells that later grow into young thalli is important for understanding its life history and for culturing new varieties.     

Observation of female gamete (Carpogonia) germination of Porphyra yezoensis and P. oligospermatangia

Several papers have reported that part or whole leafy thallus seemingly consisting of zygotospores can give rise to both blades and conchocelis in the same culture ofPorphyra. Study on samples of wild and cultivatedPorphyra yezoensis andP. oligospermatangia were conducted to clarify the origination of the young blades in the culture. It is confirmed that single cells on the blade of both species, which normally intermixed with zygotospores, germinated into young blades. TEM and SEM observation has shown that the single cells ofPorphyra yezoensis had typical features of female gamete (carpogonia) but archeospore. Therefore, the female gametes are responsible in developing leafy thalli. This project was sponsored by the NSFC (No. C-0205-05-39770593)     

Isolation and cultivation of the vegetative cells ofPorphyra haitanensis

This research deals mainly with the use of the vegetative cells of a marine red algaPorphyra haitanensis (laver) as seeds and their culture into young thalli for further cultivation in the sea. The experimental process was as follows. Enzymatically isolated vegetative cells were attached to rope substrates and cultured in the laboratory for a month until they became about 0.2–0.5 cm long sporelings and were then attached (7–15 sporelings per cm of rope) to nets for removal to the open sea for cultivation. A month after culturing, the thalli reached a maximum length of 50 cm (average of 20–30 cm). The thalli grew faster as the water temperature dropped from 21°C to 17°C. It was proved that the vegetative cells isolated from a small thallus about 5 cm long could grow up into normal thalli after being kept frozen for a year. The results of this study show that vegetative cells can be used as new seeds to simplify the production of laver sporelings. This technique is a significant advance in the field ofPorphyra culture.     

Construction of Porphyra yezoensis Pure Line from Protoplasts and Its 18S rDNA Sequence Determination

The wild Porphyra yezoensis collected from the Qingdao coast was used to prepare protoplasts by enzyme digestion. The pure line was constructed by cultivating the protoplasts. The 18S rDNA of the P. yezoensis pure line was cloned and sequenced. Sequence analysis was executed for this sequence and other 22 sequences retrieved from GenBank. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the neighbor-joining method. The results revealed a high diversity of 18S rDNA sequences in genus Porphyra and the considerable variation of 18S rDNA sequences in different strains of the same species P. yezoensis and P. tenera. Significant difference of 18S rDNA sequence was observed between P. yezoensis from Qingdao, China, and the two strains of P. yezoensis from Japan, but the three strains of P. yezoensis formed a stable clade in the phylogenetic tree. These results indicate the possibility of interspecies and intraspecies discrimination of Porphyra using the 18S rDNA sequences.     

Studies on intercropping ofPorphyra haitanensis T. J. Chang et B. F. Zheng with Bay ScallopArgopecten irradians Lamarck

Results of the experiment of northward transplantation ofPorphyra haitanensis showed that intercrop ofP. haitanensis with Bay Scallop is feasible because the growth duration of both of them is about the same in August–December. Full use of cultivating area, lowering its cost and increasing its product per unit area as well as improving the ecological environment are realized during intercrop. Contribution No. 2152 from the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica.     

Early stage differentiation of thallus cells ofPorphyra haitanensis (Rhodophyta)

The early stage differentiation of thallus cells ofPorphyra haitanensis T. J. Chang et B. F. Zheng was studied. Protoplasts or single cells were isolated from the blades using enzyme mixture comprising 2% sea snail gut enzyme and 1% cellulase. The isolated protoplasts or single cells were incubated in the MES medium. The cell differentiations were examined under the microscope at intervals after incubation. Four types of cell differentiation, namely, normal, abnormal, carposporangial and spermatorangial, and rhizoidal types, were observed. Since normal cell differentiations occur mostly in small thalli 50 mm in length and middle portions of big thalli 200 mm in length, it is essential to select tissues from these two kinds of thalli essential for commercial production.     

Axenic culture of free-living conchocelis of<Emphasis Type="Italic">Porphyra yezoensis</Emphasis> and<Emphasis Type="Italic">Porphyra haitanensis</Emphasis>

After discarding marine microorganisms from conchocelis of Porphyra yezoensis and Porphyra ha/tanens/s, their axenic cultures were obtained through treatment with antibiotics. Antibiotic disc tests were carried out to determine the effectiveness of each antibiotic in eliminating contaminating microorganisms. Five of 12 antibiotics tested were selected and used to produce the axenic cultures in this study, which showed that 200 μg/mL streptomycin, 250 μg/mL penicillin, 252 μg/mL kanamycin, 30 μg/mL neomycin, 200 μg/mL chloramphenicol were effective concentrations for eliminating microorganisms from conchocelis when antibiotics were added singly step by step; whereas simultaneous combination of 150 μg/mL streptomycin, 250 (or 350) μg/mL penicillin, 150 (or 250) μg/mL kanamycin, 70 μg/mL neomycin and 200 μg/mL chloramphenicol was also effective for producing the axenic cultures. However,it seemed that the treatments with antibiotics applied individually were more feasible than those with all antibiotics added at the same time. This may be due to the combined inhibiting effect of antibiotics on the growth and development of conchocelis.     

Comparative studies on structural feature of agar polysaccharides fromPorphyra haitanensis grown in south and north China

The structural feature of agar polysaccharides fromPorphyra haitanensis grown in south China and transplanted to the north was investigated by fractionation on DEAE—Sephadex A 50, chemical analysis, and infrared and¹³C-NMR spectroscopy. The agars composed mainly of charged molecules were eluted from DEAE—Sephadex A 50 with 1.0 mol/L NaCl solution from the southernP. haitanensis and with 0.5 mol/L NaCl from the northern one. The¹³C-NMR spectra showed that agarobiose [(1→3)-β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1→4)-3,6-anhydro-α-L-galactopyranose] and the biological precursor of agarobiose [(1→3)-β-D-galactopyra nosyl-(1→4)-6-sulfate-α-L-galactopyranose] were the major disaccharide repeating units in the charged fractions. The content of the biological precursor in the agar polysaccharides from southernP. haitanensis was higher than that in the northern one, the content of the biological precursor extracted from cold water was higher than that from hot water, and the content of 6-OMe-D-galactose in the southernP. haitanensis polysaccharides was higher than in the northern one. This distinct difference will be of significance for further study of the physiological characters ofP. haitanensis. Contribution No. 1849 from the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica.     

Gamma-rays induction of mutation in conchocelis ofPorphyra yezoensis

Free-living conchocelis ofPorphyra yezoensis Ueda (Bangiales, Rhodophyta) were treated with⁶⁰Co-γ rays of different doses (ranging from 100 Gy to 1000 Gy) to induce mutation. Most of the conchocelis maintained the capability of penetrating into shells, growing and forming colonies in shells, but their vitality was seriously impaired by the irradiation of γ-rays. A few conchocelis pigments were mutagenized directly into different color pigment mutants whose progeny-conchospores and foliose thalli had the same colors. However, some irradiated conchocelis did not show the change in color at the conchocelis stage. The pigment mutation could be observed only after the conchospores of these conchocelis had germinated into young foliose thalli. Irradiation of low dose (100 Gy) promoted the growth of thallus and many with altered morphology were observed. Conchospores of the irradiated conchocelis attached to the culture nets were cultured in the sea, and growth of these progenies was observed and measured.     

Photosynthetic responses of thalli and isolated protoplasts of Bryopsis hypnoides (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta) during dehydration

Bryopsis hypnoides Lamouroux is a unique intertidal siphonous green alga whose extruded protoplasm can aggregate spontaneously in seawater to form numerous new cells that can develop into mature algal thalli.In this study,the photosynthetic responses during dehydration of both the thalli and protoplasts isolated from B.hypnoides were measured using a Dual-PAM(pulse amplitude modulation)-100 fluorometer.The results show that the photosynthetic rates of B.hypnoides thalli were maintained for an initial period,beyond which continued desiccation resulted in reduced rates of PSI and PSII.However,the photosynthetic performances of the isolated protoplasts dehydrated in air(CO2 concentration 600±700 mg/L) showed a slight increase of Y(II) at 20% water loss,but the rates decreased thereafter with declining water content.When protoplasts were dehydrated in CO2 deficient conditions(CO2 concentration 40±80 mg/L),the values of Y(II) declined steadily with increased dehydration without an initial rise.These results indicated that the thalli and isolated protoplasts of this alga can utilize CO2 in ambient air effectively,and the photosynthetic performances of the isolated protoplasts were significantly different from that of the thalli during dehydration.Thus the protoplasts may be an excellent system for the study of stress tolerance.     

Characterization of Pythium chondricola associated with red rot disease of Pyropia yezoensis (Ueda) (Bangiales,Rhodophyta) from Lianyungang,China

Pyropia yezoensis(formerly Porphyra yezoensis) is an economically important red alga that is cultured extensively in China. The red rot disease occurs commonly during Pyropia cultivation,causing serious economic losses. An incidence of red rot disease was found in a P. yezoensis farm from mid-November to mid-December 2015 at Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China. Histopathological examination revealed that the naturally infected thalli were infected apparently by a pathogen, leading to red rot symptoms. The causative agent was isolated and identified as the oomycete Pythium chondricola by morphological analysis and sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer and cytochrome oxidase subunit 1(cox1). In artificial infection experiments on the P. yezoensis blades, the P. chondricola isolate was able to cause the same characteristic histopathology seen in natural infections. P. chondricola grew well at a wide range of temperatures in the range 8-31℃, salinities at 0-45 and pH 5-9. In an orthogonal test used to determine the effects of environmental factors(temperature, salinity, and zoospore concentration)on infection, the data revealed that temperature was the most important factor to affect red rot disease development, with the optimal conditions for disease expansion being 20℃, 35 salinity, and a zoospore concentration of 10~6 zoospores/mL. The results obtained from the present study prompted us to set up a comprehensive epidemiological study on Pyropia, which will provide support to maintain the healthy development of the Pyropia industry in China.     

Study on Cryopreservation of Porphyra yezoensis Conchocelis

Cryopreservation of Porphyra yezoensis conchocelis was conducted with cryoprotectants and a proposed pretreatment procedure and thawing methods explored. Six cryoprotectants combined by DMSO with ethylene glycol （EG）, propylene glycol （PEG）, sorbitol and sucrose were developed. The effect of prefreezing at -40℃ or -20℃ for different time durations was compared and the thawing methods were screened. It was shown that the cryoprotectant including 10% DMSO with 0.5 molL^-1 sorbitol exhibited the optimal effect. The ideal pretreatment was that conchocelis segments were stayed for 20min at -40℃ before stored in liquid nitrogen, and 40℃ water bath was proper for quick thawing. The highest recovery rate of cryopreserved P. yezoensis conchocelis reached 89.41%.     

Main nutritional contents of 30 Dalian coastal microalgae species

This paper reports results of study on the contents of proteins, amino acids, polysaccharose and uronic acids in 30 species of macroalgae from Shicao, Heishijiao, Shimiao, and Xiaofujiazhuang in the vicinity of Dalian City, N.E.China. The results showed that the protein contents of the 30 algae from highest (112.55μg/ml) to the lowest (0.24 p.g/ml) was in the descending order of Dictyopteris ndalata, Gelidium vagum,Gymnogongrus japonican, Ectocarpus confervoides, Tinocladia crassa, Sargassum thunberii. In general, the protein content in red algae was higher than that in brown algae. The content of free ami no acids showed nosignificent differences from 7.44μg/ml-4.96μg/ml in all these algae, in the descending order of Gymnogongrusrus japonican, Sargassum confusum, Undoria pinnatifida, Laminaria japonica and Ectocarpus confervoides. The content of polysaccharose varied from 168.2 gg/ml-22.15 p.g/ml in the descending order of Symphyocladiaia tiuscula, Scytosiphon lomentarius, Desmarestia viridis., Tinocladia crassa, Gracilaria asiatica and Porphyra yezoensis. The content of uronic acids is from 196.24μg/ml-20.77μg/ml in the descending order of Ulva lactuca,Symphyoclaldia latiuscula, Scytosiphon lomentarius, Ceramimum kondoi, Gracilaria vemucosa and Porphyra yezoensis. The fatty acids in 30 species of algae belong to Rhodophyta, Chlorophyta and Phaeophyta. Most phaeophytes have many (4-12) types of fatty acids.     

The influence of Fe^2＋ on growth and development of cells enzymatically isolated from Porphyra yezoensis blades

Fe^2＋ acted as an accessorial factor for many cellular enzymatic reactions is very important for seaweed growth and development, but the Fe^2＋ requirement in nori had not been seen. Porphyra yezoensis cells were separated enzymatically and cultured in a series of sterilized seawater media containing various concentrations of Fe^2＋. The growth development and cell were investigated in this work. Through this experiment, two biologically-meant concentration scales were found, one is low concentrations, 12.1-102.1μg/L, 10-100 times than that in seawater, favoring the development of isolated cells of Porphyra and the other was high concentrations, more than 10mg/L inhibiting the cell growth, leading to the deformity and shrinkage of the cells. At the concentration of 50 mg/L, the cells stopped growing and died eventually.     

RAPD study on some common species ofPorphyra in China

Electroporation, PEC, PEG plus electroporation and Biolistics methods were tested in gene transformation ofP. yezoensis. The exogenousgus was from plasmid of pBI121 and pCAMBIA1301, both contain the CaMV35S promoter. The receptors included the protoplasts, tissues and free-living conchocelis filaments ofP. yezoensis. Several factors, for example, the voltage, capacitance and bivalent cations, etc., were studied. Results show that these four methods are all efficient for gene transformation inP. yezoensis; and that PEG is the best one, with transformation efficiency of up to 4×10⁻⁵. GUS activity was detected 26 days after transformation by using PEG method.

     

Identification and bioinformatics analysis of microRNAs from the sporophyte and gametophyte of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pyropia haitanensis</Emphasis>

Pyropia haitanensis (T. J. Chang et B. F. Zheng) N. Kikuchi et M. Miyata (Porphyra haitanensis) is an economically important genus that is cultured widely in China. P. haitanensis is cultured on a larger scale than Pyropia yezoensis, making up an important part of the total production of cultivated Pyropia in China. However, the majority of molecular mechanisms underlying the physiological processes of P. haitanensis remain unknown. P. haitanensis could utilize inorganic carbon and the sporophytes of P. haitanensis might possess a PCK-type C₄-like carbon-fixation pathway. To identify microRNAs and their probable roles in sporophyte and gametophyte development, we constructed and sequenced small RNA libraries from sporophytes and gametophytes of P. haitanensis. Five microRNAs were identified that shared no sequence homology with known microRNAs. Our results indicated that P. haitanensis might posses a complex sRNA processing system in which the novel microRNAs act as important regulators of the development of different generations of P. haitanensis.     

A preliminary comparative study of the productivity of three economic seaweeds

The rates of photosynthesis and respiration ofPorphyra, Laminaria andUndaria were determined with an oxygenmeter at different temperatures in an enclosed continuous-flow system. The temperature coefficients of respiration and the net primary productivities for the three species were calculated. The spectacular rates of primary production were found to be as high as 270 g C m⁻² forP. yezoensis, 2200 g C m⁻² forL. japonica and 160 g C m⁻² forU. pinnatifida annually. The low respiratory rates of these three species as well as low light compensation points especially at low temperatures are considered as a reason to save heat energy, resulting in a high productivity, especially in case ofLaminaria. Contribution No. 945 from the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica. The paper was presented at the International Phycological Society Meeting, 19–22 Aug. 1980, Glasgow, UK.     

Effect of cytokinins and auxins on the growth of free-living conchocelis ofPorphyra yezoensis

IAA 3-Indolylacetic acid, NAA a-Naphthylacetic acid and cytokinins in PESI culture medium were used in a study on the effects of plant hormones on the growth of free-living conchocelis ofPorphyra yezoensis which showed that its growth in medium with cytokinins, IAA and NAA was more rapid than that in medium with non—phytohormones; that the optimal concentrations for promoting growth were 10 μg/L for IAA and ZA (Zeatin), and 0.1 μg/L for BA 6-Benzyl amino purine and KIN 6-Furfurylamino- purine. Mix use of NAA, IAA and cytokinins, NAA/ZA 1–1000/1 μg/L, NAA/BA 10/1-1000 μg/L, NAA/KIN 1/1-1000 μg/L promoted growth. IAA/ZA 0.1-1/0.1-1 μg/L; IAA/BA 0.1-1/0.1-10 μg/L IAA/KIN 1/0.1-1000 μg/L also promoted growth. Contribution No. 2335 from the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Contribution No. 94 from the Experimental Marine Biology Lab Qingdao, China. The research was supported by a grant from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.     

Subunit composition and chromophore content of R-phycoerythrin fromPorphyra haitanensis

R-phycoerythrin fromPorphyra haitanensis exists in two aggregation states with different molecular weights. A more highly aggregated form, RPE I, was chromatographed on Bio-Rex 70 column with urea solution (pH 3.0) as eluent, and the molecular weights of the 3 subunits (α, β, γ) obtained were determined on SDS-PAGE at 18000, 19200 and 30000, respectively. α subunit carried two phycoerythrobilin (PEB); β subunit, three PEB and one phycourobilin (PUB); γ subunit, one PEB and three PUB chromophores. The molar ratio of α, β, and γ subunits of RPE I was 6: 6: 1, and their subunit composition was confired to be (αβ)₆γ on account of the molecular weight of RPE I, 232000. A lower aggregated form, RPE II, contained α and β subunits similar to those of RPE I, but its subunit composition was the (αβ) monomer of RPE. Contribution No. 2108 from the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences