Ida T. Capacio1, Ma. Cecilia B. Jao1, Nia Robin F. Franche1, Anicia Q. Hurtado2
1National Seaweed Technology Development Center (NSTDC), Cabid-an, Sorsogon, Philippines, 2Integrated Services for the Development of Aquaculture and Fisheries, (ISDA) Inc., McArthur Highway, Tabuc Suba Jaro, 5000 Iloilo City, Philippines
Correspondence: Anicia Q. Hurtado, anicia.hurtado@gmail.com
Gracilaria is a red seaweed known to be a good source of agar and agarose. This is a cosmopolitan seaweed both found abundantly in the temperate and tropical waters. Gracilaria is ubiquitous in the Philippines, however, no report yet on the micropropagation using tissue culture technique of this seaweed has been made.
A study on the use of seaweed extract phycobiostimulant (PBS) in the form of Ascophyllum Marine Plant Extract Powder (AMPEP) was conducted to assess the efficacy of this seaweed extract as an elicitor of shoot formation and as a stimulator of growth rate to generate new seedlings for future field cultivations. Results show that a 0.5% of AMPEP is significantly higher in shoots (7.5 mm ± 0.88) than all other concentrations (1,3, 5 %) but not with Control at p <0.01. In terms of the number of shoots per section, a 1.0ml/L and 5.0ml/L AMPEP were significantly higher at p<0.01 than control whereas 0.5 ml/L and 3.0ml/L are inconclusive. The survival of section with shoots in all concentrations after 45 days of in vitro culture was 100%. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of a seaweed extract PBS in generating a fast, simple and inexpensive technique of generating new plantlets for field cultivation. However, upscaling the production is highly encouraged to promote sufficient good quality seedlings for sea-based nursery and ultimately field cultivations purposes.