Cystophora retroflexa

Last updated

Cystophora retroflexa
Cystophora retroflexa by John Barkla.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Diaphoretickes
Clade: SAR
Clade: Stramenopiles
Phylum: Gyrista
Subphylum: Ochrophytina
Class: Phaeophyceae
Order: Fucales
Family: Sargassaceae
Genus: Cystophora
Species:
C. retroflexa
Binomial name
Cystophora retroflexa
Synonyms

Fucus retroflexus Labillardière 1807

Cystophora retroflexa is a brown alga species in the genus Cystophora. [1] It found is found off the coasts of New Zealand and Australia. [2] It is the type species of the genus. Prefers more sheltered environments compared to other Cystophora species, often found in sheltered reefs from 0 to 12 m in depth. [3]

Contents

Description

It is a large, open species with floats longer (4–10 mm) than broad (3–6 mm). The final branches are long (20–60 mm) and thin (1–2 mm). The side branches have smaller branches arising at irregular intervals from all sides, rather than the seaweed having branches in the one plane. [3]

Biochemistry

This species contains phlorotannins of the classes of phlorethols and fucophlorethols (phloroglucinol, difucol, tetraphlorethol-E, pentaphlorethol-B, hexaphlorethol-A, fucotriphlorethol-G, fucotriphlorethol-H, fucotetraphlorethol-J, fucotetraphlorethol-K, fucopentaphlorethol-E, bisfucoheptaphlorethol-A, difucofucotriphlorethol-A, difucofucotetraphlorethol-B, terfucohexaphlorethol-B, terfucoheptaphlorethol-A, diphlorethol, triphlorethol-A, tetraphlorethol-C, fucophlorethol-B, fucodiphlorethol-D, fucotriphlorethol-B, fucotetra-phlorethol-B, bisfucotriphlorethol-A, bisfucotetraphlorethol-A, bisfucopentaphlorethol-A, bisfucopentaphlorethol-B, difucophlorethol-A, difucofucotetraphlorethol-A, terfucopentaphlorethol-A and terfucohexaphlorethol-A). [4] There are also halogenated phlorethols and fucophlorethols (chlorinated, brominated and iodinated derivatives). [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Fucus vesiculosus</i> Species of Phaeophyceae

Fucus vesiculosus, known by the common names bladderwrack, black tang, rockweed, sea grapes, bladder fucus, sea oak, cut weed, dyers fucus, red fucus and rock wrack, is a seaweed found on the coasts of the North Sea, the western Baltic Sea and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It was the original source of iodine, discovered in 1811, and was used extensively to treat goitre, a swelling of the thyroid gland related to iodine deficiency.

Cystophora is a genus of brown algae found mostly in temperate waters around Australia. Most of the southern Australian species can be immediately recognised as belonging to this genus by their characteristic zigzag branching pattern. Identification of individual species is generally more difficult and relies on the size and shape of branches, particularly terminal branches, which are specialised reproductive structures known as receptacles. Due to their local diversity and dominance in southern Australia, they are regarded by some as 'the eucalypts of the underwater world'.

<i>Hormosira</i> Species of Phaeophyceae

Hormosira is a genus of seaweed in the family Hormosiraceae. It is monotypic, with a single species, Hormosira banksii, also known as Neptune's necklace, Neptune's pearls, sea grapes, or bubbleweed) it is native to Australia and New Zealand.

<i>Ascophyllum</i> Species of seaweed

Ascophyllum nodosum is a large, common cold water seaweed or brown alga (Phaeophyceae) in the family Fucaceae. A. nodosum is also known in localities as feamainn bhuí, rockweed, Norwegian kelp, knotted kelp, knotted wrack or egg wrack. It is a seaweed that dominates the intertidal zone and grows only in the northern Atlantic Ocean, along the north-western coast of Europe including east Greenland and the north-eastern coast of North America, its range further south of these latitudes being limited by warmer ocean waters. Ascophyllum nodosum has been used numerous times in scientific research and has even been found to benefit humans through consumption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little black cormorant</span> Species of bird

The little black cormorant is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. It is common in smaller rivers and lakes throughout most areas of Australia and northern New Zealand, where it is known as the little black shag. It is around sixty centimetres long, and is all black with blue-green eyes.

<i>Pelvetia</i> Genus of seaweeds

Pelvetia canaliculata, the channelled wrack, is a very common brown alga (Phaeophyceae) found on the rocks of the upper shores of Europe. It is the only species remaining in the monotypic genus Pelvetia. In 1999, the other members of this genus were reclassified as Silvetia due to differences of oogonium structure and of nucleic acid sequences of the rDNA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coelopidae</span> Family of flies

The Coelopidae or kelp flies are a family of Acalyptratae flies, they are sometimes also called seaweed flies, though both terms are used for a number of seashore Diptera. Fewer than 40 species occur worldwide. The family is found in temperate areas, with species occurring in the southern Afrotropical, Holarctic, and Australasian regions.

<i>Durvillaea antarctica</i> Species of seaweed

Durvillaea antarctica, also known as cochayuyo and rimurapa, is a large, robust species of southern bull kelp found on the coasts of Chile, southern New Zealand, and Macquarie Island. D. antarctica, an alga, does not have air bladders, but floats due to a unique honeycomb structure within the alga's blades, which also helps the kelp avoid being damaged by the strong waves.

<i>Turbinaria</i> (alga) Genus of seaweeds

Turbinaria is a genus of brown algae (Phaeophyceae) found primarily in tropical marine waters. It generally grows on rocky substrates. In tropical Turbinaria species that are often preferentially consumed by herbivorous fishes and echinoids, there is a relatively low level of phenolics and tannins.

<i>Asparagopsis armata</i> Species of alga

Asparagopsis armata is a species of marine red algae, in the family Bonnemaisoniaceae. English name(s) include red harpoon weed. They are multicellular eukaryotic organisms. This species was first described in 1855 by Harvey, an Irish botanist who found the algae on the Western Australian coast. A. armata usually develops on infralittoral rocky bottoms around the seawater surface to around 40m of depth. Marine algae like A. armata are considered "autogenic ecosystem engineers" as they are at the very bottom of the food chain and control resource availability to other organisms in the ecosystem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red algae</span> Division of plant life

Red algae, or Rhodophyta, are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta comprises one of the largest phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 currently recognized species with taxonomic revisions ongoing. The majority of species (6,793) are found in the Florideophyceae (class), and mostly consist of multicellular, marine algae, including many notable seaweeds. Red algae are abundant in marine habitats but relatively rare in freshwaters. Approximately 5% of red algae species occur in freshwater environments, with greater concentrations found in warmer areas. Except for two coastal cave dwelling species in the asexual class Cyanidiophyceae, there are no terrestrial species, which may be due to an evolutionary bottleneck in which the last common ancestor lost about 25% of its core genes and much of its evolutionary plasticity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phlorotannin</span> Class of chemical compounds

Phlorotannins are a type of tannins found in brown algae such as kelps and rockweeds or sargassacean species, and in a lower amount also in some red algae. Contrary to hydrolysable or condensed tannins, these compounds are oligomers of phloroglucinol (polyphloroglucinols). As they are called tannins, they have the ability to precipitate proteins. It has been noticed that some phlorotannins have the ability to oxidize and form covalent bonds with some proteins. In contrast, under similar experimental conditions three types of terrestrial tannins apparently did not form covalent complexes with proteins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetrafucol A</span> Chemical compound

Tetrafucol A is a fucol-type phlorotannin found in the brown algae Ascophyllum nodosum, Analipus japonicus and Scytothamnus australis.

<i>Scytothamnus australis</i> Species of alga

Scytothamnus australis is a brown alga species in the genus Scytothamnus found in New Zealand. It is a sulphated polysaccharide and the type species in the genus.

<i>Analipus japonicus</i> Species of alga

Analipus japonicus, or sea fir, is a brown alga species in the genus Analipus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diphlorethol</span> Chemical compound

Diphlorethol is a phlorotannin found in the brown alga Cystophora retroflexa. It falls under the phlorethols class of phlorotannins due to the ether bond that connects its two phloroglucinol units.

<i>Asparagopsis</i> Genus of algae

Asparagopsis is a genus of edible red macroalgae (Rhodophyta). The species Asparagopsis taxiformis is found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions, while Asparagopsis armata is found in warm temperate regions. Both species are highly invasive, and have colonised the Mediterranean Sea. A third accepted species is A. svedelii, while others are of uncertain status.

<i>Delisea pulchra</i> Species of alga

Delisea pulchra is a red algae found in Southern Australia, New Zealand, the Subantarctic Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. It produces a range of secondary metabolites called halogenated furanones that have ecological roles as defenses against epiphytes and herbivores.

<i>Dictyota</i> Genus of seaweed in the family Dictyotaceae

Dictyota is a genus of brown seaweed in the family Dictyotaceae. Species are predominantly found in tropical and subtropical seas, and are known to contain numerous chemicals (diterpenes) which have potential medicinal value. As at the end of 2017, some 237 different diterpenes had been identified from across the genus.

References

  1. "Cystophora retroflexa (Labill.) J.Agardh". www.nzor.org.nz. Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
  2. Nelson, W. A. (2017). New Zealand seaweeds : an illustrated guide. Wellington, New Zealand: Te Papa Press. p. 78. ISBN   9780987668813. OCLC   841897290.
  3. 1 2 Edgar, Graham (2012). Australian marine life : the plants and animals of temperate waters (2nd ed.). Chatswood, N.S.W.: Reed New Holland. p. 50. ISBN   9781921517174.
  4. Sailler, Birgit; Glombitza, Karl-Werner (1999). "Phlorethols and fucophlorethols from the brown alga Cystophora retroflexa". Phytochemistry. 50 (5): 869. doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(98)00643-8.
  5. Sailler, B; Glombitza, KW (1999). "Halogenated phlorethols and fucophlorethols from the brown alga Cystophora retroflexa". Natural Toxins. 7 (2): 57–62. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1522-7189(199903/04)7:2<57::AID-NT42>3.0.CO;2-F. PMID   10495467.