Pia C. Winberg

A Molecular Survey of Ulva (Chlorophyta) in Temperate Australia Reveals Enhanced Levels of Cosmopolitanism.

The green algal genus Ulva includes a speciose group of marine macroalgae inhabiting shallow seas worldwide. Although algal blooms in Asia highlight the opportunistic nature of several “nuisance” species, recent research clearly reveals important positive benefits of Ulva. Applied research requires accurate, reliable, and rapid identification, however, identification of Ulva spp. has met with con‐siderable difficulty. Consequently, many have turned to molecular markers to aid in taxonomy. Previous studies of plants and algae have relied heavily on ITS and rbcL. Recently, tufA has been presented as a suitable barcoding gene to facilitate species‐level identification of green macroalgae and it is used here to explore the diversity of Ulva spp. in temperate Australia. Ninety Ulva specimens collected from 38 sites across five states were sequenced for this gene region with exemplars from each genetic group also sequenced for rbcL to test for congruence. Collections of Australian Ulva spp. were compared to samples from Asia and North America and exhibited trends consistent with recent studies in terms of species relationships. Results support an overwhelmingly cosmopolitan flora in temperate Australia that contrasts with other Australasian surveys of Ulva that report a greater number of endemics and new species. Four new records, as well as numerous range extensions for taxa already known from the country, are documented. Evidence for three nonindigenous Ulva species in temperate Australia is discussed.

Applications of seaweed extracts in Australian agriculture: past, present and future

A rapidly growing world population has highlighted the need to significantly increase food production in the context of a world with accelerating soil and water shortages as well as climatic stressors. This situation has generated new interest in the application of liquid seaweed extracts because of their potent plant growth-enhancing properties through metabolic benefits, triggering disease response pathways and increasing stress tolerance. The basis for these benefits is complex and poorly understood. Liquid seaweed extracts are complex and have been demonstrated to possess novel mechanisms for increasing crop productivity. The benefits of seaweed extracts to crops have previously been reviewed in the context of the northern hemisphere, but not in the context of Australia, its crops and unique stressors. This review considers the application of seaweed extracts in Australian agriculture by (i) introducing the history of the Australian liquid seaweed extract industry and (ii) focusing on evidence of Australian research related to seaweed extract composition, plant growth properties during plant establishment, pathogenic disease and new approaches to phenotyping the biological efficacy of seaweed extracts. This type of research is essential for future Australian agriculture to develop effective strategies for the use of liquid seaweed extracts.

Genetic improvement of macroalgae: status to date and needs for the future

Marine macroalgae (seaweeds) consist of a diverse range of species with diverse morphology and bioactive properties. The potential for genetic improvement to increase the value of the production of such molecules and other economically important traits is likely to be high as procedures for cultivation of many species are well established, genetic diversity is often high, sexual propagation is often possible and seaweeds generally have a short generation time that allows rapid transition from one selected generation to the next. The need for genetic improvement has been voiced by industry for many years. Despite this, there is little published research describing seaweed genetic improvement methodology, results or impact. This review draws on knowledge from other groups of species and describes options, benefits and knowledge needed for the genetic improvement of macroalgae. In conclusion, the review highlights how a well-designed genetic improvement program, which targets one or a few select economically valuable traits whilst limiting inbreeding, could provide potentially large benefits for industries reliant on the culture of seaweeds. Progress will, to a large extent, rely on the magnitude of genetic variation for the trait in question.

Baseline Omega-3 Index Correlates with Aggressive and Attention Deficit Disorder Behaviours in Adult Prisoners

Background There is emerging evidence that the supplementation of omega-3 contributes to a decrease in aggressive behaviour in prison populations. A challenge of such research is achieving statistical power against effect sizes which may be affected by the baseline omega-3 index. There are no published data on the blood omega-3 index with studies of this kind to assess the variability of the blood omega-3 index in conjunction with aggression and attention deficit assessments. Objective To determine if the variance of the omega-3 index is correlated with aggressive and attention deficit behaviour in a prison population. Design 136 adult male prisoners were recruited from South Coast Correctional Centre (SCCC), NSW Australia. A 7 point categorisation was used to quantify levels of aggressive behaviour (4 weeks) from individual SCCC case notes, whereby higher scores correspond to increasingly aggressive behaviour. Study participants completed the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) and the Brown’s Attention Deficit Disorder Scales (BADDS), provided a blood sample for erythrocyte fatty acid analysis using gas chromatography and the omega-3 index was calculated. Results The baseline omega-3 index ranged from 2.3% to 10.3%, indicating that some participants already had substantial omega-3 intake, however a median of 4.7% indicated a lower overall omega-3 intake than the general Australian population. Assessment of aggressive and attention deficit behaviour shows that there were negative correlations between baseline omega-3 index and baseline aggression categorisation scores (r = −0.21, P = 0.016); total AQ score (r = −0.234, P = 0.011); Anger (r = -0.222 p = 0.016); Hostility AQ (r = −0.239, P = 0.009); indirect aggression (r = −0.188 p = 0.042); total BADDS (r = −0.263, p = 0.005); Activation (r = −0.224, p = 0.016); Attention (r = −0.192, p = 0.043); Effort (r = −0.253, p = 0.007); Affect (r = −0.330, p = 0.000) and Memory (r = −0.240, p = 0.010). Conclusions There is a high variability in omega-3 status of a NSW prison population, and inmates with lower omega-3 index were more aggressive and had higher ADD scores.

Selecting Australian marine macroalgae based on the fatty acid composition and anti-inflammatory activity

Increasingly, macroalgae are being recognised as a growth opportunity for functional foods and nutritional security in the future. Dominating traits of interest are metabolites that function as anti-inflammatories and are antiproliferative. However, seaweeds from the northern hemisphere dominate this field of research. Australia has a unique flora of macroalgae, and it is poorly understood which species should be targeted for cultivation towards food and health markets. Here, six Australian marine macroalgae were selected for screening of one anti-inflammatory group; n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). PUFA profiles were determined using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and multivariate analysis. Thirty-one fatty acids (FA) were identified across the six macroalgal species with C16:0 the dominant FA in all samples, variations across taxa in the saturated FA C10:0, C14:0, C16:0, C18:0 and C20:0 and variations in monounsaturated FA attributed to C16:1 n-7 and C18:1 n-9. For PUFA profiles, all six species had significantly different n-6/n-3 ratios, while the green seaweed Ulva species possessed the lowest n-6/n-3 ratio of 0.4, along with a 2-fold higher C18:3 n-3 to C18:2 n-6 content. Ulva sp. was the only species that contained docosahexaenoic acid. Extracts of both the Ulva sp. and Hormosira banksii showed selective cytotoxicity towards a human pancreatic cancer cell line, while the nonpolar extracts of all six algae species strongly inhibited production of the inflammatory-mediator nitric oxide.

Controlling Seaweed Biology, Physiology and Metabolic Traits in Production for Commercially Relevant Bioactives in Glycobiology

This review considers a plethora of multidisciplinary literature relating to seaweeds and their bioactive metabolites. Rather than providing another stocktake of the diverse metabolites and applications, we undertake a meta-analysis of the status and direction of research and development towards biological applications. Of significance is that for health and medical applications specifically, the dominant focus remains on the unique and abundant sulfated polysaccharides. However, there is a shift from the historical publications that emerged during the development of the hydrocolloid industry in the last century. Recent development focuses on the huge diversity of these metabolites across more species and at finer structural scale. This is concurrent with the frontier of research in glycobiology where sulfated polysaccharide macromolecules are shown to have specific and important biological activities related to key molecular traits. Phycologists, biochemists, chemical engineers and health and medical researchers will build the teams that can deliver production and consistency of these complex molecules.

Parameters affecting the analytical profile of fatty acids in the macroalgal genus Ulva

The fatty acids (FA) of Ulva have potential to contribute to nutrition. However the large variability of FA profiles of Ulva species; thus the quality and quantity of FA in relation to nutrition is poorly defined. Herein we investigate the FA profile of 74 cultured Ulva samples crossing five culture regimes, six extraction regimes and four post-harvesting processes. This is compared alongside a comprehensive review of FA profiles of Ulva spp. With regard to the literature, Ulva is characterised by C16:0 (30.5±11.5%), C18:3 n-3 (14.5±6.3%), C18:4 n-3 (12.5±5.4%), C16:4 n-3 (8.9±4.8%) and C18:1 n-7 (10.1±4.0%). The investigated Ulva fell within the reported range of specific FA. High nutrient conditions showed the most desirable FA profile for health, along with the highest total FA content (56mgg(-1) dry weight equivalent) when extracted with an optimised protocol.

Evaluating Microdictyon umbilicatum Bloom Biomass as a Compost Conditioner for Australian, Native Coastal Plants, Rhagodia candoleana and Banksia integrifolia

ABSTRACT There is little or no published information on the use of Microdictyon umbilicatum as a compost component or soil conditioner for plants; yet it is one of the increasing numbers of blooming green tide macroalgae that requires solutions for the management of biomass. This project was established to determine both the suitability of the macroalgal bloom biomass for composting, and if application on local native plant species used in coastal revegetation programs was safe and/or beneficial. M. umbilicatum macroalgal biomass was collected from Currambene Creek (Jervis Bay) in March 2011 and three different proportions (5, 10, and 20%) were added into a greenwaste mix for composting, alongside a control compost without macroalgae. The proximate composition and soil conditioning quality of the resulting compost treatments was tested. Two Australian native plant species, Saltbush (Rhagodia candoleana) and Coastal Banksia (Banksia integrifolia), were grown in these treatments in a 1:1 ratio with potting mix for 14 weeks. Plants in the 5% treatment exhibited increased growth rates of 157% (F = 8.9, p = 0.001) for R. candoleana and 73% (F = 4.7, p = 0.015) for B. integrifolia. Leaf numbers for R. candoleana were also significantly greater (F = 8.26, p = 0.002) in the 5% treatment, compared to all other treatments. For 10 and 20% treatments, growth rates and leaf numbers were equal to the control group. These outcomes confirm that, as an organic additive, M. umbilicatum bloom biomass can provide a safe soil conditioner at Australian Standards with significant benefits for plant growth for two coastal plant species. It also demonstrates an effective and valuable use of a marine resource, otherwise regarded as a nuisance.

Fabrication and In Vitro Characterization of Electrochemically Compacted Collagen/Sulfated Xylorhamnoglycuronan Matrix for Wound Healing Applications

Skin autografts are in great demand due to injuries and disease, but there are challenges using live tissue sources, and synthetic tissue is still in its infancy. In this study, an electrocompaction method was applied to fabricate the densely packed and highly ordered collagen/sulfated xylorhamnoglycuronan (SXRGlu) scaffold which closely mimicked the major structure and components in natural skin tissue. The fabricated electrocompacted collagen/SXRGlu matrices (ECLCU) were characterized in terms of micromorphology, mechanical property, water uptake ability and degradability. The viability, proliferation and morphology of human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) cells on the fabricated matrices were also evaluated. The results indicated that the electrocompaction process could promote HDFs proliferation and SXRGlu could improve the water uptake ability and matrices’ stability against collagenase degradation, and support fibroblast spreading on the ECLCU matrices. Therefore, all these results suggest that the electrocompacted collagen/SXRGlu scaffold is a potential candidate as a dermal substitute with enhanced biostability and biocompatibility.

Correction: Baseline omega-3 index correlates with aggressive and attention deficit disorder behaviours in adult prisoners

The following information is missing from the Funding section: Natalie Parletta (formerly Natalie Sinn) was supported by NHMRC Program Grant funding (# 320860 and 631947).