| Porphyridium purpureum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Clade: | Archaeplastida |
| Division: | Rhodophyta |
| Class: | Porphyridiophyceae |
| Order: | Porphyridiales |
| Family: | Porphyridiaceae |
| Genus: | Porphyridium |
| Species: | P. purpureum |
| Binomial name | |
| Porphyridium purpureum (Bory) K.M.Drew & R.Ross. 1965 | |
| Synonyms | |
Heterotypic
| |
Porphyridium purpureum is a species of red algae in the family Porphyridiophyceae. Porphyridium cruentum is considered a heterotypic synonym of P. purpureum by AlgaeBase following Drew. [1]
The microalga Porphyridium sp. is a potential source for several products like fatty acids, lipids, cell-wall polysaccharides and pigments . The polysaccharides of this species are sulfated and their structure gives rise to some unique properties that could lead to a broad range of industrial and pharmaceutical applications. Additionally, P. cruentum biomass contains carbohydrates of up to 57% have been reported. Thus, the combined amount of carbohydrates in biomass and exopolysaccharides of this microalga could potentially provide the source for bio-fuel and pharmaceutical. [2] This alga contains phycoerythrin that can be extracted by lyse and chromatography. [3]
Porphyridium purpureum is used as a model species for Rhodophyta. Remarkably, bacterial plasmids can replicate in its cell nucleus unchanged: the bacterial origin of replication "just works". This could explain the extensive presence of bacterial genes acquired through horizontal gene transfer in Rhodophyta. [4]
