The Role of Porphyra in Sustainable Culture Systems: Physiology and Applications

Abstract

The genus Porphyra belongs to the division Rhodophyta, Class Bangiophyceae, Order Bangiales and Family Bangiaceae. It has a global distribution. The genus consists of more than 140 species and is the most speciose genera in the red algae (Yoshida et al., 1997; Silva, 1999; Brodie and Zuccarello, 2007). Porphyra is also one of the oldest red algae known. Fossils that closely resemble this genus were found in the 570 million-year-old Doushantuo formation in southern China (Graham and Wilcox, 2000). Butterfield (2000) estimates the lineage of the Order Bangiales to be at least 1.2 billion years old.