After PBPs extraction, we successfully recovered agar from the residual algal matter. After two purification steps, we recovered 45 % of both PBPs (R-PE= 0.20 mg g-1 DW and R-PC= 0.23 mg After freeze-thaw treatment, we successfully extracted two PBPs from alga: R-phycoerythrin (R-PE) and R-phycocyanin (R-PC). chilensis by sequentially extracting PBPs and agar. This alga is also a valuable feedstock for the biorefinery of phycobiliproteins (PBPs), colored and fluorescent water-soluble proteins with industrial applications. chilensis main by-product is agar, a gelling agent used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Oliveira (Agarophyton chilense Gurgel, J.N.Norris & Fredericq) is one of the few algae commercially farmed in Chile, where this alga is commonly named “Pelillo”.
Our classification scheme reconciles all molecular phylogenetic studies published to date. Our new proposal incorporates the most current understanding of the evolutionary history of the order, establishes a natural and stable classification system, and provides the basis for the recognization of intra-family ranks. Based on new rbcL DNA sequences, and along with a reassessment of published comparative morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies, we argue that the latter three genera represent distinct evolutionary lineages in the Gracilariaceae, and propose a new classification for the order Gracilariales. Three other clades comprise the reinstatement of the genus Hydropuntia and the proposal of two new genera, Agarophyton and Crassa, described herein.
Of these major clades only four free-living genera have been widely accepted taxonomically: Curdiea, Melanthalia, Gracilariopsis, and Gracilaria. Independent comparative morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies over the last 20 years have revealed the existence of seven major clades recognizable as distinct genera. The Gracilariales is a red macroalgal order and the main global source of the economically important agar, a marine phycocolloid.