U.S.-Mexico Cooperative Research on the Physiological Basis for the Annual Cycle of Eucheuma uncinatum from Baja California.

该奖项将支持由纽约州立大学石溪分校海洋科学研究中心的B.H.Brinkhuis教授和墨西哥下加利福尼亚自治大学的Jose Zertuche教授参与的合作研究项目。该项目的目标是调查加利福尼亚州海湾红色海藻Eucheuma uncinatus的生长和生存的重要因素。这项研究对该经济重要物种的海水养殖策略的制定具有重要意义。由于卡拉胶可以从龙须菜中提取，因此开发在可控条件下商业规模生产这种海藻(实际上是一种藻类)的方法将是有益的。除了在受控条件下生长的普遍愿望外，最近也变得明显的是，加利福尼亚州海湾的欧几里玛的自然人口不足以维持卡拉胶提取行业。然而，对锦鸡儿的生命周期--特别是其年度生命周期与光合作用和呼吸作用之间的关系--的了解还不够，无法开始海水养殖。这些知识将通过对作为阳光函数的水样中Eucheuma的氧气交换进行受控实验，并将辐射水平与季节和深度变化联系起来。将利用合作机构的互补专业知识和设施，最终结果不仅是更好地了解欧几里马发生的周期性过程，而且还将促进下加利福尼亚州和其他地方一个重要行业的发展。

This award will support a cooperative research program involving Prof. B.H. Brinkhuis of the Marine Sciences Research Center, SUNY-Stony Brook and Prof. Jose Zertuche of the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Mexico. The project has the goal of investigating important factors in the growth and survival of the red seaweed, Eucheuma uncinatum, in the Gulf of California. This study should be of importance in developing mariculture strategies for this economically important species. Since carrageenan can be extracted from Eucheuma, it would be beneficial to develop means to produce this seaweed (actually an alga) under controlled conditions on a commercial scale. In addition to the general desirability of growth under controlled conditions, it has also recently become apparent that natural populations of Eucheuma in the Gulf of California are not sufficiently large to sustain a carrageenan-extraction industry. However, not enough is known about the life cycle of Eucheuma--and particularly about the relationship between its annual life cycle and photosynthesis and respiration--to commence mariculture. Such knowledge will be obtained by performing controlled experiments on oxygen exchanges of Eucheuma in water samples as a function of sunlight, and relating the level of irradiance to seasonal and depth variations. Complementary expertise and facilities at the cooperating institutions will be used, and the end result could not only be greater understanding of the cyclical processes that occur in Eucheuma, but also the development of an important industry in Baja California and elsewhere.