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Current Topics in Macroalgal Research
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Current Topics in Macroalgal Research

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Response to Abiotic Stress and Climate Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 7623

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Koji Mikami

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Guest Editor
Department of Integrative Studies of Plant and Animal Production, School of Food Industrial Sciences, Miyagi University, 2-2-1 Hatatate, Taihaku-ku, Sendai 982-0215, Japan
Interests: seaweed; bryophyte; abiotic stress; development; morphogenesis; gene expression; phosphoinositide signalling; fatty acid metabolism; stress tolerance; stress memory; molecular breeding
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Macroalgae are photosynthetic multicellular organisms living in aquatic habitats. Due to harsh changes in environmental conditions in their living places, macroalgae seem to acquire high-level tolerance to these environmental stresses for enabling normal growth and correct development in the hydrosphere. However, an integrated understanding of the relationship between stress response and morphogenesis under unfavorite stressful conditions has not yet been established in macroalgae. Rather, studies on stress response, growth, and morphogenesis have progressed independently and are much behind those in terrestrial plants. Therefore, it is important to recognize the current progress of these studies to form a vision for the further development of macroalgal research.  

This Special Issue highlights novel findings that significantly contribute to understanding the regulation of growth, morphogenesis, and stress response at physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels including omics approaches. Thus, we intend to collect research articles, short communications, and review articles that address significant research questions in the biology and ecology of freshwater and marine macroalgae.

Prof. Dr. Koji Mikami
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • macroalga
  • stress response
  • stress tolerance
  • life cycle
  • growth
  • reproduction
  • morphogenesis
  • gene expression
  • omics
  • metabolites

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 3638 KiB  
Article
Cell-Autonomous and Non-Cell-Autonomous Mechanisms Concomitantly Regulate the Early Developmental Pattern in the Kelp Saccharina latissima Embryo
by Samuel Boscq, Bernard Billoud and Bénédicte Charrier
Plants 2024, 13(10), 1341; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13101341 - 13 May 2024
Viewed by 636
Abstract
Brown algae are multicellular organisms that have evolved independently from plants and animals. Knowledge of the mechanisms involved in their embryogenesis is available only for the Fucus, Dictyota, and Ectocarpus, which are brown algae belonging to three different orders. Here, [...] Read more.
Brown algae are multicellular organisms that have evolved independently from plants and animals. Knowledge of the mechanisms involved in their embryogenesis is available only for the Fucus, Dictyota, and Ectocarpus, which are brown algae belonging to three different orders. Here, we address the control of cell growth and cell division orientation in the embryo of Saccharina latissima, a brown alga belonging to the order Laminariales, which grows as a stack of cells through transverse cell divisions until growth is initiated along the perpendicular axis. Using laser ablation, we show that apical and basal cells have different functions in the embryogenesis of this alga, with the apical cell being involved mainly in growth and basal cells controlling the orientation of cell division by inhibiting longitudinal cell division and thereby the widening of the embryo. These functions were observed in the very early development before the embryo reached the 8-cell stage. In addition, the growth of the apical and basal regions appears to be cell-autonomous, because there was no compensation for the loss of a significant part of the embryo upon laser ablation, resulting in smaller and less elongated embryos compared with intact embryos. In contrast, the orientation of cell division in the apical region of the embryo appears to be controlled by the basal cell only, which suggests a polarised, non-cell-autonomous mechanism. Altogether, our results shed light on the early mechanisms of growth rate and growth orientation at the onset of the embryogenesis of Saccharina, in which non-cell-specific cell-autonomous and cell-specific non-cell-autonomous processes are involved. This complex control differs from the mechanisms described in the other brown algal embryos, in which the establishment of embryo polarity depends on environmental cues. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Topics in Macroalgal Research)
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14 pages, 2242 KiB  
Article
The Cell Wall Characterization of Brown Alga Cladosiphon okamuranus during Growth
by Yuka Miwa, Mahanama Geegana Gamage Awanthi, Kouichi Soga, Atsuko Tanaka, Michihiro Ito, Yuichiro Numata, Yoichi Sato and Teruko Konishi
Plants 2023, 12(18), 3274; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12183274 - 15 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1283
Abstract
The present study provides new insights into the growth of the brown algal cell wall by showing that cell wall polysaccharides play an important role in the process of growth, considering the physicochemical characteristic of young and old Cladosiphon okamuranus. To determine [...] Read more.
The present study provides new insights into the growth of the brown algal cell wall by showing that cell wall polysaccharides play an important role in the process of growth, considering the physicochemical characteristic of young and old Cladosiphon okamuranus. To determine its structural variation in detail, the cell wall was sequentially fractionated into five fractions: hot water (HW), ammonium oxalate, hemicellulose-I (HC–I), HC-II, and cellulose, and analyzed physicochemically. Results showed that almost 80% of the total recovery cell wall from both young and old thalli was HW, and HC-I contained mainly fucoidan composed of Fucose, Glucuronic acid, and sulfate in molar ratios of 1.0:0.3:0.6~0.7 and 1.0:0.3:0.2~0.3, respectively. Fucoidan in HW was a highly sulfated matrix polysaccharide abundance in young thalli, while fucoidan in HC-I was rich in old thalli and functions as hemicellulose in land plants, crosslinking with cellulose and strengthening the cell wall. We found that HW and HC-I were particularly involved in the growth and strength of old thalli appeared to be due to the deposition of HC-I and the reduction in water content during the growth process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Topics in Macroalgal Research)
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17 pages, 4630 KiB  
Article
Membrane Fluidization Governs the Coordinated Heat-Inducible Expression of Nucleus- and Plastid Genome-Encoded Heat Shock Protein 70 Genes in the Marine Red Alga Neopyropia yezoensis
by Koji Mikami and Ho Viet Khoa
Plants 2023, 12(11), 2070; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12112070 - 23 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1128
Abstract
Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is an evolutionarily conserved protein chaperone in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. This family is involved in the maintenance of physiological homeostasis by ensuring the proper folding and refolding of proteins. The HSP70 family in terrestrial plants can be [...] Read more.
Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is an evolutionarily conserved protein chaperone in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. This family is involved in the maintenance of physiological homeostasis by ensuring the proper folding and refolding of proteins. The HSP70 family in terrestrial plants can be divided into cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-, mitochondrion (MT)-, and chloroplast (CP)-localized HSP70 subfamilies. In the marine red alga Neopyropia yezoensis, the heat-inducible expression of two cytoplasmic HSP70 genes has been characterized; however, little is known about the presence of other HSP70 subfamilies and their expression profiles under heat stress conditions. Here, we identified genes encoding one MT and two ER HSP70 proteins and confirmed their heat-inducible expression at 25 °C. In addition, we determined that membrane fluidization directs gene expression for the ER-, MT-, and CP-localized HSP70 proteins as with cytoplasmic HSP70s. The gene for the CP-localized HSP70 is carried by the chloroplast genome; thus, our results indicate that membrane fluidization is a trigger for the coordinated heat-driven induction of HSP70 genes harbored by the nuclear and plastid genomes in N. yezoensis. We propose this mechanism as a unique regulatory system common in the Bangiales, in which the CP-localized HSP70 is usually encoded in the chloroplast genome. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Topics in Macroalgal Research)
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12 pages, 2714 KiB  
Article
Characterization of Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Antioxidant Defense Parameters of Two Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis Strains under Different Temperatures
by Xiaomei Li, Xue Meng, Xiaoqi Yang and Delin Duan
Plants 2023, 12(8), 1670; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12081670 - 17 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1312
Abstract
In this study, two Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis strains—the wild type and a green-pigmented mutant—were cultured at three temperatures (8, 20, and 30 °C) for 7 days to explore their temperature tolerance using photosynthetic performance and antioxidant defense parameters. When the two strains of G. [...] Read more.
In this study, two Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis strains—the wild type and a green-pigmented mutant—were cultured at three temperatures (8, 20, and 30 °C) for 7 days to explore their temperature tolerance using photosynthetic performance and antioxidant defense parameters. When the two strains of G. lemaneiformis were separately cultured at 30 °C, the fast chlorophyll fluorescence intensity of the wild type decreased, whereas the green mutant showed no significant change. The decrease in the performance index on absorption basis value under heat stress was lower in the green mutant than in the wild type. In addition, the green mutant had stronger antioxidant activity at 30 °C. Furthermore, a greater decrease in the values of maximum photochemical quantum yield and performance index on an absorption basis in the green mutant indicated that it had a greater degree of inhibition of photosynthetic performance under low temperatures. However, the green mutant produced less reactive oxygen species under low temperatures, suggesting that the antioxidant potential of the green mutant might be higher. In conclusion, the green mutant exhibited heat tolerance and could recover from low-temperature damage; therefore, it has the potential for large-scale cultivation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Topics in Macroalgal Research)
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Review

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25 pages, 6712 KiB  
Review
Understanding Macroalgae: A Comprehensive Exploration of Nutraceutical, Pharmaceutical, and Omics Dimensions
by Sivakumar Adarshan, Vairavel Sivaranjani Sivani Sree, Pandiyan Muthuramalingam, Krishnanjana S Nambiar, Murugan Sevanan, Lakkakula Satish, Baskar Venkidasamy, Peerzada Gh Jeelani and Hyunsuk Shin
Plants 2024, 13(1), 113; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13010113 - 31 Dec 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2365
Abstract
Driven by a surge in global interest in natural products, macroalgae or seaweed, has emerged as a prime source for nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical applications. Characterized by remarkable genetic diversity and a crucial role in marine ecosystems, these organisms offer not only substantial nutritional [...] Read more.
Driven by a surge in global interest in natural products, macroalgae or seaweed, has emerged as a prime source for nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical applications. Characterized by remarkable genetic diversity and a crucial role in marine ecosystems, these organisms offer not only substantial nutritional value in proteins, fibers, vitamins, and minerals, but also a diverse array of bioactive molecules with promising pharmaceutical properties. Furthermore, macroalgae produce approximately 80% of the oxygen in the atmosphere, highlighting their ecological significance. The unique combination of nutritional and bioactive attributes positions macroalgae as an ideal resource for food and medicine in various regions worldwide. This comprehensive review consolidates the latest advancements in the field, elucidating the potential applications of macroalgae in developing nutraceuticals and therapeutics. The review emphasizes the pivotal role of omics approaches in deepening our understanding of macroalgae’s physiological and molecular characteristics. By highlighting the importance of omics, this review also advocates for continued exploration and utilization of these extraordinary marine organisms in diverse domains, including drug discovery, functional foods, and other industrial applications. The multifaceted potential of macroalgae warrants further research and development to unlock their full benefits and contribute to advancing global health and sustainable industries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Topics in Macroalgal Research)
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