Performance of the estuarine alga Punctaria latifolia (Phaeophyceae) under different abiotic culture conditions

Abstract

In farming projects, environmental variations can afect growth, productivity, survival, and fertility, as well as the quality of the produced biomass. This is why estuarine algae could be a good alternative for developing aquaculture ventures in a global climate change scenario since they can develop in highly fuctuating environments with large temperature and salinity fuctuations and low light penetrability. In this study, the best culture conditions (i.e., temperature; nutrients with Provasoli culture medium (PES) and PES+ Kelpak®, a commercial biostimulant based on algae; salinity and photon fux) for the growth and fertility of gametophytes and sporophytes of the estuarine alga Punctaria latifolia were evaluated. Gametophytes and sporophytes of P. latifolia showed good tolerance to a wide range of abiotic variables. Under culture conditions, both stages presented the highest growth at intermediate to high temperatures (16—20 °C) and intermediate to high salinity (27.5 – 35 psu). However, gametophytes grew better at intermediate to high nutrient concentrations of PES and PES+Kelpak® and low and high light intensity (5—35 µmol photons m−2 s −1), whereas sporophytes grew better at intermediate to low nutrients of PES and PES+ Kelpak® and low light intensity (5 µmol photons m−2 s −1). Punctaria latifolia would be a potentially cultivable alternative due to its broad tolerance to unfavorable environmental conditions in the climatic change we face.