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Beneficial effects of seaweeds from the Portuguese coast in Drosophila melanogaster life history traits – insights on the health benefits of seaweeds consumption.

João Miguel M. Ferreira1, 2*, Ana Margarida L. Marques3, 4, Maria Helena T. Abreu5, Rui Pedro Pereira5, Andreia M. Rego5, Mário G. Pacheco3, 4 and Isabel O. Gaivão1, 2
  • 1 University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Portugal
  • 2 Centro de Ciência Animal e Veterinária (CECAV), Portugal
  • 3 University of Aveiro, Department of Biology, Portugal
  • 4 Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies CESAM, University of Aveiro, Portugal
  • 5 ALGAplus, Portugal

The demand for bioactive compounds with beneficial effects to human health is growing. Seaweeds (macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae; divided in three major groups – red, green and brown) represent an attractive resource with large applications, considering their rich composition and reported beneficial effects. Therefore, they have been defended as functional food and their inclusion in the human diet is a reality, particularly in East Asian countries. Nevertheless, it should be noted that previous studies addressed only effects from extracts or specific compounds from seaweeds, mainly in vitro, exposing a gap relatively to in vivo evaluations directed to impacts of their full intake. Drosophila melanogaster is currently being used as one of the preferable organisms for toxicological research with food products, taking into account the high level of conservation between D. melanogaster and humans relative to the metabolic pathways responsible for dietary input. Thus, wild seaweeds from the three major groups were evaluated for their beneficial effects on D. melanogaster life history traits (viz. development time, prolificacy and sex ratio) with the purpose of demonstrating their potential as functional food. Five seaweed species were harvested from the western Portuguese coast, namely Gracilaria sp. (pendent DNA confirmation between G. gracilis and G. vermiculophylla), Grateloupia turuturu, Porphyra umbilicalis (red seaweeds), Ulva sp. (pendant DNA confirmation between U. lactuca and U. rigida; green seaweed) and Fucus vesiculosus (brown seaweed), being dried and grinded for medium supplementation. Flies were kept at 24 ± 1 ºC and approximately 60% relative humidity. In a first assay (with the five algae species), instant medium and grinded seaweeds were used for experimental media preparation (controls were made without seaweed supplementation). Five concentrations of each seaweed were tested: 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20% (w/w). Flies were chronically exposed to the experimental media, i.e., from egg up to adult eclosion. The number of adults in each experimental condition was counted until the 17th day after egg laying. Development time (time from egg to adult eclosion), prolificacy (number of eclosions) and sex ratio (number of ecloded males vs. females) were scored considering the susceptibility of these parameters to different feeding and, in this way, being able to demonstrate beneficial effects after supplementation with seaweeds comparing to standard feeding. In a second assay, with P. umbilicalis and G. turuturu, instant medium and grinded seaweeds were used for experimental media preparation. A streptonigrin (SN) exposure was used, allowing to evaluate seaweeds actions against a toxic insult. Two concentrations of each algae were chosen, considering the best results from the first assay: 5 and 10% of P. umbilicalis, and 10 and 20% of G. turuturu. Ten conditions were delineated: one negative control, four with seaweed supplementation, one positive control (with SN insult) and four with seaweed supplementation plus SN insult. Flies were chronically exposed to the experimental media until the 17th day after egg laying, and then, the prolificacy and sex ratio were scored. Regarding the first assay, development time decreases were verified for all seaweeds in at least one concentration tested; statistically significant increments in prolificacy occurred for the five seaweeds in at least one concentration tested. P. umbilicalis (5 and 10%) and G. turuturu (10 and 20%) demonstrated the greater beneficial effects on the parameters evaluated. In relation to the second assay, 10% P. umbilicalis and 10 and 20% G. turuturu supplementation showed statistically significant increases in prolificacy (compared to the negative control); for the SN-challenged conditions, all experimental conditions [5 and 10% P. umbilicalis plus SN and 10 and 20% G. turuturu plus SN] exhibited their significant increments in prolificacy (compared to the positive control). Sex ratio of 1:1 was reported for all tested conditions in both assays. Considering previous studies, rich compositions were displayed by P. umbilicalis and G. turuturu (collected from the European Atlantic coast), which may explain the D. melanogaster developmental improvements obtained in the present work, since their rich protein and carbohydrate contents are essential in flies development and survival. The inhibition of SN activity (after algae supplementation) demonstrates an antitoxic activity of seaweeds in relation to SN. Within a framework of valorization of marine resources and health promotion, it was elucidated the value of seaweeds as food sources promoting safe (without toxicological effects) and healthy (with beneficial effects) nutrition.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are due for the financial support to CECAV (UID/CVT/00772/2013 and UID/CVT/00772/2016) and CESAM (UID/AMB/50017 - POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007638), to FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC), and the co-funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020.

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Keywords: Grateloupia turuturu, Porphyra umbilicalis, Gracilaria, Ulva, Fucus vesiculosus, Development time, Prolificacy, Sex ratio, Antitoxicity

Conference: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018, Peniche, Portugal, 5 Jul - 6 Jul, 2018.

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Topic: Blue Biotech

Citation: Ferreira JM, Marques AL, Abreu MT, Pereira R, Rego AM, Pacheco MG and Gaivão IO (2019). Beneficial effects of seaweeds from the Portuguese coast in Drosophila melanogaster life history traits – insights on the health benefits of seaweeds consumption.. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2018.06.00086

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Received: 06 May 2018; Published Online: 07 Jan 2019.

* Correspondence: Dr. João Miguel M Ferreira, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Vila Real, 5000-801, Portugal, joaommf93@hotmail.com