SCREENING FOR BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES FROM MARINE PHOTOSYNTHETIC ORGANISMS FROM THE ALGARVE COAST

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Polyunsaturated fatty acids of marine macroalgae: potential for nutritional and pharmaceutical applications

Publication . Pereira, Hugo; Barreira, Luisa; Figueiredo, Filipe; Custodio, Luisa; Vizetto-Duarte, Catarina; Polo, Cristina; Resek, Eva; Engelen, Aschwin; Varela, Joao

As mammals are unable to synthesize essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), these compounds need to be taken in through diet. Nowadays, obtaining essential PUFA in diet is becoming increasingly difficult; therefore this work investigated the suitability of using macroalgae as novel dietary sources of PUFA. Hence, 17 macroalgal species from three different phyla (Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta) were analyzed and their fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) profile was assessed. Each phylum presented a characteristic fatty acid signature as evidenced by clustering of PUFA profiles of algae belonging to the same phylum in a Principal Components Analysis. The major PUFA detected in all phyla were C-18 and C-20, namely linoleic, arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acids. The obtained data showed that rhodophytes and phaeophytes have higher concentrations of PUFA, particularly from the n-3 series, thereby being a better source of these compounds. Moreover, rhodophytes and phaeophytes presented. healthier. Sigma(n-6/)Sigma(n-3) and PUFA/saturated fatty acid ratios than chlorophytes. Ulva was an exception within the Chlorophyta, as it presented high concentrations of n-3 PUFA, alpha-linolenic acid in particular. In conclusion, macroalgae can be considered as a potential source for large-scale production of essential PUFA with wide applications in the nutraceutical and pharmacological industries.

2012-09Journal article

Open Access

Microplate-based high throughput screening procedure for the isolation of lipid-rich marine microalgae

Publication . Pereira, Hugo; Barreira, Luísa; Mozes, Andre; Florindo, C.; Polo, Cristina; Duarte, Catarina V.; Custódio, Luísa; Varela, J.

Abstract We describe a new selection method based on BODIPY (4,4-difluoro-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene) staining, fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) and microplate-based isolation of lipid-rich microalgae from an environmental sample. Our results show that direct sorting onto solid medium upon FACS can save about 3 weeks during the scale-up process as compared with the growth of the same cultures in liquid medium. This approach enabled us to isolate a biodiverse collection of several axenic and unialgal cultures of different phyla.

2011-12-22Journal article

Open Access