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Agars from Gelidium rex (Gelidiales, Rhodophyta)

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Abstract

Gelidium rex grows in the rocky intertidal of central Chile. Extraction of vegetative G. rex with water at 95 °C yielded 17.9% of agar with a gel strength value of 590 g cm−2. The gel strength increased up to 1272 g cm−2 when the alga was treated with alkali prior to extraction. Cystocarpic and tetrasporic thalli of G. rex were extracted with distilled water at 95 °C, affording soluble polysaccharides in 36.0% and 15.7% yield respectively. Polysaccharides of both life history phases were fractionated by chromatography on DEAE Sephadex. Elution with distilled water gave fractions devoid of sulfate; the fraction from cystocarpic plants contained 45.5% of 3,6-anhydrogalactose whereas the neutral fraction from tetrasporic plants contained 40.0% of 3,6-anhydrogalactose. Further elution with 0.1, 0.4, 0.8 and 1.5 molar aqueous solutions of KCl afforded four fractions for each polysaccharide. Chemical analysis of these fractions showed that the agars from cystocarpic and tetrasporic Gelidium rex are mixtures of related polysaccharides that range from neutral polymers to highly sulfated galactans.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencia, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Casilla 5659, Santiago 2, Chile

    B. Matsuhiro & C. C. Urzúa

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  1. B. Matsuhiro
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  2. C. C. Urzúa
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Matsuhiro, B., Urzúa, C.C. Agars from Gelidium rex (Gelidiales, Rhodophyta). Hydrobiologia 204, 545–549 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00040284

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