AQUATIC PLANTSFelix Bast, PhD, IFACentre for Biosciences, Central University of Punjab, Mansa Road, Bathinda, 151001, Punjab

Earth

~70% is water

Life originated in water

~75% of O2 we inhale is produced from ocean (algae including phytoplankton)

80% of CO2 captured and sequestered by the algae

Cryptogams & Phanerogams

Cryptogams: “lower plants”, polyphyletic

Plants without flowers/fruits; reproduce by spores: Avascular

Algae/Seaweeds

Lichens

Bryophytes (Mosses)

Vascular Pteridophytes (Ferns)

Phanerogams/Spermatophyta: Vascular, reproduce by seeds Seagrass

Mangroves

Algal Divisions

Chlorophyta = Green

Phaeophyta = Brown

Rhodophyta = Red

Halimeda opuntia

Chlorophyta: Green Algae

Caulerpa racemosa

Caulerpa sertularioides

Dictyosphaeria cavernosa

Codium edule

Sargassum polyphyllum

Sargassum echinocarpum

Phaeophyta: Brown Algae

Turbinaria ornata

Padina japonica

Hydroclathrus

clathratus

Hypnea chordacea Asparagopsis taxiformis

Galaxaura fastigiata

Acanthophora spicifera

Ahnfeltia concinna

Rhodophyta: Red Algae

INSPIRE Faculty Award

Chemical and

Phylogenetic

Diversity of

Seaweeds in

Indian

Subcontinent

DST-

INSPIRE

Award

2012-

2017

35 Lakhs

Seaweeds: Green algae

Have the same pigmentsas land plants (chlorophyll)

More than 7,000 species

Marine algae are “macro”

Alteration of generations

• Filamentus algae such as Ulva forms paper thin sheets.

• “Dead man’s fingers,” Codium fragile and

several spp. of Culerpa are known for their

tube-like structures.

•Bryopsis has potent anticancer properties

Boergesenia forbesii

Acetabularia acetabulum

Phaeophyta

Largest (size) and most complex of the algae

Nearly all are marine (~1500 spp.)

Brown color comes from accessory pigments (fucoxanthin)

Padina (brown algae) with flat, calcified blades. From A&N

• Fucus sprialis a common brown algae can be found on

rocky shores. Unlike other algae in this category, its thallus

lacks gas bladders.

Kelps

Kelps are the largest seaweed we encounter in the ocean. They are also the most complex.

Due to this large size, many of the kelps are harvested for food!

Who knows where we will find seaweed next?

Sea plam (Postelsia palmaeformis)

containsinternal support structures

that help them withstand wave

action!

It’s also eated on a regular basis as

“sea noodles.”

Macrocystis pyrifera, the largest of the kelps anchors itself to the sea floor by use a massiveholdfast. Here we can see not only the large blades, but the extensive pneumatocysts used for buoyancy.

Pneumatocysts developed as a means to maximize energyproduction through photosynthesis by keeping the seaweedclose to the surface.

These kelp obtain huge proportions growing as much as 0.5m/day!

These when large kelp group together a kelp forest is develops.

Kelp forest are great for shelteringall sorts of marine life, including Garabaldi, scallops, seals and sharks.

They also provide an opportunity for selective harvesting of the upper sections of the blades for food.

• Although many red algae are in fact

red; due to the prescence of red

pigments known as phycobilins,

which mask chlorophyll, these algae

may display an even greater intensity

when exposed to sunlight!

Nearly 4,000 marine species exist and

many are used for food or other specialty

products.

Porphya, a “red” algae

Rhodophyta

Corallina, a coralline algae, deposits CaCO3 within its cell walls which provides structural support and often encrusting many surrounding surfaces.

Galaxaura rugosa from Andaman islands

Sexual Reproduction, or not…

Sexual reproduction is expensive both energetically and physiologically.

Sometimes it’s better to reproduce by asexual means from fragments, spores, or buds.

Sometimes algae use both sexual and asexual reproduction depending on environmental conditions.

Off-shore cultivation methods

Four basic types of seaplant agronomic methods.

A. Floating raft in deep sea with deadweight mooring. Raft is floated all the time.

B. Semi-floating raft in shallow water. Raft is floated at high tides but gets exposed during low tides.

C. Off bottom in shallow water. Nets getimmersed in high tide and exposed in low tide.

D. Bottom planting in shallow water. Immersed at all the times. Water levels at high-tide are shown above low tide in all illustrations

BAST, F 2014. An Illustrated Review on Cultivation and Life History of Agronomically Important Seaplants. In Seaweed: Mineral Composition, Nutritional and Antioxidant Benefits and Agricultural Uses, Eds Vitor Hugo Pomin, 39-70. Nova Publishers, New York ISBN: 978-1-63117-571-8

Invasive algae

Our group’s contribution

BAST, F., JOHN, A.A. AND BHUSHAN, S. 2014. Strong endemism of bloom-forming tubular Ulva in Indian west coast, with description of Ulva paschima Sp. Nov. (Ulvales, Chlorophyta. PLoS ONE 9(10): e109295. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0109295 (IF:3.73) PDF

BAST, F., JOHN, A.A. AND BHUSHAN, S. 2015.Cladophora goensis- a bloom forming marine algae from Goa, India. Indian Journal of Marine Sciences (Accepted) (IF:0.57) PDF

BAST, F., BHUSHAN, S AND JOHN, A.A. 2014. DNA Barcoding of a new record of epi-endophytic green algae Ulvella leptochaete (Ulvellaceae, Chlorophyta) in India. Journal of Biosciences 39:711-716 (IF:1.8) PDF

BAST, F., BHUSHAN, S. AND JOHN, A.A. 2015. Brown barcoded as red but reality is green! How epiphytic green algae confuse phycologists? Webbia- Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography (Tailor and Francis, UK) (Accepted) DOI: 10.1080/00837792.2015.1014217

BAST, F. 2015. Taxonomic reappraisal of Monostromataceae (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta) Based on Multi-Locus Phylogeny. Webbia-Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Geography (Tailor and Francis, UK) (Accepted) DOI: 10.1080/00837792.2015.1004845

BAST, F., KUBOTA, S. AND OKUDA, K. 2015. Phylogeographic Assessment of Panmictic Monostroma Species from Kuroshio Coast, Japan Reveals Sympatric Speciation. Journal of Applied Phycology (IF:2.5) DOI 10.1007/s10811-014-0452-x PDF

BAST, F 2014. Seaweeds in Japanese Culture: An analysis of medieval Waka poetry. The Phycologist (UK) 86:24-27 ISSN:0965-5301 PDF

BAST, F., BHUSHAN, S. AND JOHN, A.A. 2014. Morphological and molecular assessment of native carrageenophyte Hypneavalentiae (Cystocloniaceae, Gigartinales) in Indian Subcontinent Phykos 44(1) 52-58 ISSN: 0554-1182 PDF

Popular Science

BAST, F 2014. Seaweeds: Ancestors of land plants with rich diversity. Resonance, 19(2) 1032-1043 ISSN: 0971-8044 PDF

Endophytic algae

Products from Seaweed:

Phycocolloids—form gels and increase viscosity of liquids

Algin—stabilizer in ice cream (Macrocystis)

Carageenan—emulsifier in jellies (Hypnea)

Agar—jellies & Ice creams (and of course all your plates in microbiology,

Gelidium, Pterocladiella)

Other important microalgae

Microalgae are interesting candidates for biofuel production

Dunaliella salina-extreme halophilic microalgae

Chlorella-a chlorophyte (green algae) is used as a nutraceutical, in biofuel production and Carbon Capture and Sequestration

Spirulina-Cyanobacterial genus important as dietary supplement

Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus are important picoplankton syanobacteria that are responsible for vast majority (~70%) of CO2 fixation in earth

The Seaweed Paradox

Highest seaweed consuming countries:

East Asia (Japan, Korea, China, Indonesia, Philippines)

Europe (Ireland, Ulster, Wales)

Coastal areas of USA and Canada

Prevalence rate of following diseases are low in all these countries

Breast cancer

Colorectal cancer

Coronary heart disease

Drugs from Algae

S. No Natural product Algal taxa possessing the

product

1 Kahalalide-F Bryopsis

2 Sulphated polysaccharides :

Fucoidan & Laminarin

Brown algae

3 Sulphated polysaccharides :

Translam

Laminaria (Brown algae)

4 Sulphated polysaccharides :

Ulvan

Green algae

5 Chondriamide A: A cyclic

depsipeptide

Chondria atropurpurea

6 Terpenes and Triterpenoids Bifurcaria bifurcata, Caulerpa

taxifolia, Cystoseira

mediterrane, Cystophora

usneoides

7 Bis (2,3-dibromo-4,5-

dihydroxybenzyl) ether

(BDDE) and other

Bromophenols (BPs)

Various marine macroalgae

Drugs from Sea grant (Ministry of Earth Sciences)

Phylogenetic

Selection Of Target

Taxa For Anti-

Proliferative And Anti-

Metastatic Marine

Natural Products

From Seaweeds Of

Indian Coast

Ministry of

Earth

Sciences-

Drugs from

the Sea

Program

2015-

18

91.02

Lakhs

Terrestrial algae

Most of the terrestrial algae are greens

Our works have revealed that terrestrial algae

Trentepohlia caused blood rain

Freshwater algae

We are also working on freshwater (limnetic) algae Greens

Chlamydomonas Volvox Spyrogyra Gonium Chlorella Scenedesmus Trebouxia Botryococcus Zygnema Ulothrix Euglena

Blue-greens Oscillatoria Anabaena Nostoc

Diatoms (Bacillariophyceae)-brown algae with silica frustules

Our group is working on Molecular Systematics of

freshwater algae from Punjab

Lichens

Symbiotic association of algae (Photobiont) with fungus

Mainly three types:

Fruticose-Shrubs

Foliose-Leaf like

Crustose-Like crust of paint on surface

Important as founder populations of barren land

Important in weathering of rocks

Foliose lichen

1. The cortex is the outer layer of tightly woven fungus filaments (hyphae) 2. This photobiont layer has photosynthesizing green algae 3. Loosely packed hyphae in the medulla 4. A tightly woven lower cortex, with anchoring hyphae called rhizines where the fungus attaches to the substrate.

Classified based on fungus

Largest diversity of lichenised fungi are in Phylum Ascomycota

Trebouxia, a green algae, is the most common photobiont of lichen

Bryophytes

Non vascular cryptogams that grows in damp, humid habitats; all have gametophyte dominant lifecycle

Formerly consists of mosses, hornworts (division Anthocerotophyta) and liverworts (division Marchantiophyta)

Recent phylogenetic evidences suggest that hornworts and liverworts are separate from bryophytes. The term bryophytes used to refer only mosses

Our group is working on phylogeography of bryophytes

in Indian subcontinent

Phylogeny of land plants: Two alternative hypothesis

Polysporangiates-many sporangia plant; consists of vascular plants (tracheophytes). Important aquatic vascular plants are pteridophytes, seagrasses and mangroves

Pteridophytes

Consists of Ferns

Life cycle consists of alternation of generations, characterized by alternating diploid sporophytic and haploid gametophyticphases

Classification

Seagrasses

Angiosperms

Monocots

Order Alismatales

Four families:

Cymodoceaceae

Hydrocharitaceae

Zosteraceae

Posidoniaceae

Seagrass genera

Cymodoceaceae family Amphibolis Cymodocea Halodule Syringodium Thalassodendron

Hydrocharitaceae family Enhalus Halophila Thalassia

Posidoniaceae family Posidonia

Zosteraceae family Phyllospadix Zostera

Seagrasses reproduce through rhizomes, or horizontal stems which grow beneath the sediment.

Halophila

Halophilia hawaiiana- from Hawaii

Zostera marina from Hokkaido, Japan

Mangroves

Angiosperms > Eudicots (Various orders, polyphyletic)

Woody plants that thrive in intertidal saline coastal environments/swamps

Many (black/gray mangroves) have pneumatophores-specialized root-like structures which stick up out of the soil like straws for breathing

Mangroves

Mangroves thrive in salty environments and are able to obtain freshwater from saltwater.

Some spp. secrete excess salt through their leaves while other block absorption of salt at their roots.

Black Mangrove, Avecenniagerminans.

Red Mangrove, Rhizophoramangle.

Red Mangrove

Red Mangrove, Rhizophoramangle Dolphin Island, Andaman.

White Mangrove, Lagunculariaracemosa.

MangrovesOur group is working on

phylogeography of mangroves in Sunderbans and Kerala

Mangroves from Sundarbans Mangroves from Kerala

Other important aquatic plants

Water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes-an invasive aquatic plant originated in Amazon basin

Edible aquatic plants

A number of seaweeds are edible.

Wild rice (Zizania), water caltrop (Trapa natans), Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis), Indian lotus (Nelumbonucifera), water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) and watercress (Rorippa nasturtium-aquaticum)

Marine Biology:

Taxonomy, phylogeography and molecular systematics of algae, including marine macro and micro algae, epi/endophytic algae, terrestrial algae, and freshwater algae.

Botany:

Taxonomy, phylogeography and molecular systematics of a number of higher plants, including medicinal shrubs: Tulsi, Sarpagandha, Aswagandha, Brahmi, Betel, Shankapushpa, and Ashoka, trees: Ficus and Salvadora.

Linguistics:

Tracing linguistic phylogeny of Indian languages using computational phylogenetics.

Medicinal Chemistry:

Phylogenetic Selection Of Target Taxa For Anti-Proliferative And Anti-Metastatic Marine Natural Products From Seaweeds Of Indian Coast

Cancer Research:

Phylogenetic structures in clonal evolution of metastatic cancers; Germ-line SNPs in BRCA-1 of Malwa Population, Genotoxicity of drinking water from Malwa region, Punjab.

http://sg.sg/bastfelix

Contents hosted at this site: Recorded video lectures of the class hosted at YouTube, PowerPoint presentations, lecture hand-outs, course materials including free e-books, pdf files of scholarly literature referred in the class, solved quizzes and question papers, consolidated student assignments and term papers, and pertinent hyperlinks to news items, podcasts, and MOOCs.

OP-79, CPDHE-University of Delhi, January 2015 66

Thanks!

felix.bast@gmail.com