Life history, morphological variability and growth rates of the life phases of Gracilaria tenuistipitata (Rhodophyta: Gracilariales) in vitro

Gracilaria tenuistipitata, a species of commercial interest, is becoming a model organism for studies on red algal physiology and molecular biology as it can be grown easily in vitro under a broad range of conditions. Most of the experiments carried out around the world have been based on a tetraspo...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: José Bonomi Barufi, Eurico Cabral de Oliveira, Estela Maria Plastino, Mariana Cabral de Oliveira
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas 2010-06-01
Series:Scientia Marina
Subjects:
Online Access:http://scientiamarina.revistas.csic.es/index.php/scientiamarina/article/view/1160
Description
Summary:Gracilaria tenuistipitata, a species of commercial interest, is becoming a model organism for studies on red algal physiology and molecular biology as it can be grown easily in vitro under a broad range of conditions. Most of the experiments carried out around the world have been based on a tetrasporophytic clone isolated in our laboratory from a specimen collected in China. Here we describe the life history of this species, give anatomic details of the reproductive structures, illustrate the morphological variability of tetraspore progeny and compare the growth rate of gametophytic and sporophytic thalli. Tetrasporophytic branches showed higher growth rates than gametophytic branches.
ISSN:0214-8358
1886-8134