Healing and regeneration responses in Gigartina skottsbergii (Rhodophyta, Gigartinales): optimization of vegetative propagation for cultivation

The red alga Gigartina skottsbergii is becoming increasingly valuable as a resource to providing the raw material for the carrageenan industry established in Chile and elsewhere. As a result, wild stocks of the species are subject to intense harvesting by local fishermen. With the current levels of harvesting, it seems likely that natural stands of G. skottsbergii will soon collapse. Although cultivation seems an alternative, knowledge regarding the biology of the species is exceedingly limited. This study reports the first attempt to determine the optimal conditions for vegetative propagation of this species in the laboratory. For this purpose, the processes of wound healing and regeneration of frond fragments and haptera were studied under controlled conditions of temperature, light, and media strength. Our results demonstrated that excised tissues of G. skottsbergii were able to seal the exposed areas in approximately 20 days, by a wound healing process characterized by a re-differentiation of medullary cells into a normal cortex. Our data also demonstrated that frond fragments are better than haptera for propagation purposes. The development of new cortical tissue at the cut surface is followed, within 60 days, by localized blade-like outgrowths along the repaired area. Furthermore, the healing and regenerative responses in both frond fragments and haptera differed in efficiency according to the various combinations of factors, with optimum of 10–15 ◦C, 5 µmol m−2 s−1 and plain seawater or standard SFC medium for the fronds. The two types of responses were negatively affected by seawater enriched with a double concentration of nutrients.