Overview of Phlorotannins' Constituents in Fucales

Fucales are an order within the Phaeophyceae that include most of the common littoral seaweeds in temperate and subtropical coastal regions. Many species of this order have long been a part of human culture with applications as food, feedand remedies in folk medicine. Apart from their high nutritional value, these seaweeds are also a well-known reservoir of multiple bioactive compounds with great industrial interest. Among them, phlorotannins, a unique and diverse class of brown algae-exclusive phenolics, have gathered much attention during the last few years due to their numerous potential health benefits. However, due to their complex structural features, combined with the scarcity of standards, it poses a great challenge to the identification and characterization of these compounds, at least with the technology currently available. Nevertheless, much effort has been taken towards the elucidation of the structural features of phlorotannins, which have resulted in relevant insights into the chemistry of these compounds. In this context, this review addresses the major contributions and technological advances in the field of phlorotannins extraction and characterization, with a particular focus on Fucales.

Phylogenetic analysis of the complete mitochondrial genome of Sargassum patens C. Agardh (Phaeophyceae)

The mitochondrial genome of Sargassum patens was completely sequenced. This mitogenome is a circular molecule of 34,844 bp in length and had an overall GC content of 36.20%. The mitogenome contains 37 protein-coding, three rRNA, 25 tRNA genes and two conserved open reading frames (ORFs). The Maximum-likelihood (ML) tree showed that S. patens has a closer relationship with S. aquifolium.