Ann Anton

Chemical composition of farmed and micropropagated Kappaphycus alvarezii (Rhodophyta, Gigartinales), a commercially important seaweed in Malaysia

Micropropagation technologies play an important role in enhancing the nutritional composition of seaweeds. Kappaphycus alvarezii explants, obtained from two types of seedling production system viz. micropropagation and farm propagation, were analyzed. Results obtained from the post-farm cultivation seaweeds showed significantly higher total lipids in micropropagated compared to farm-propagated K. alvarezii. In the mineral and trace element analyses, micropropagated K. alvarezii yielded significantly higher calcium, magnesium, beryllium, cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, and zinc compared to farm-propagated K. alvarezii. A lower concentration of metal contaminants was detected in micropropagated K. alvarezii compared to farm-propagated K. alvarezii. Both sources of K. alvarezii showed high SFA compared to MUFA and PUFA, where C16:0 and C18:0 were found to be in abundance. The study suggests micropropagated K. alvarezii is a better food source for consumption compared to farm-propagated K. alvarezii and justifies the rationale of using micropropagation technique for seedling production in the seaweed industry.

Optimization of total RNA isolation from Cochlodinium polykrikoides

Dinoflagellates are eukaryotic microorganisms that represent a group of single-celled algae composed of a highly diversified phylum that is well known for displaying an amazing range of ecological adaptation. Cochlodinium polykrikoides is an unarmored dinoflagellate species belonging to the Family Gymnodiniaceae. It is one of the causative agents for harmful algal blooms occurring in the west coast of Sabah, which result in massive economic damages to the aquaculture and mariculture industries. The limited availability of information pertaining to the genetics of C. polykrikoides raises the need for an in-depth study into the expression mechanisms and regulation of the genes of this microorganism. However, isolation of good quality and intact RNA samples from C. polykrikoides seems to be quite a challenge for molecular biologists. Rapid degradation of freshly isolated RNA samples is a bottleneck for researchers to conduct studies on the gene expression and regulation patterns, which requires intact and high-quality RNA samples. In this study, an attempt to establish the best protocol for isolation of good quality and intact RNA from C. polykrikoides was carried out by testing four different total RNA isolation protocols. We conclude that the RNA isolation protocol using the TRIzol reagent produced the best results among the methods tried. The information from this study will allow further research pertaining to the molecular aspects of C. polykrikoides to be conducted with much ease in the future.