Avrainvillea is a genus of green algae that belongs to the family Dichotomosiphonaceae.
These algae are found in various regions around the world, including pantropical and subtropical areas like Hawaii, the Mediterranean, and Australia.
They are commonly found on sand plains, coral rubble, and in seagrass beds, even as deep as 60 meters underwater.
What Are the Bioactive Natural Products Found in Avrainvillea?
There are several bioactive natural products that have been discovered in the Avrainvillea species.
Two of the most well-known species for their bioactive properties are Avrainvillea longicaulis and Avrainvillea erecta.
Avrainvillea longicaulis
The organic extract of Avrainvillea longicaulis has been found to have antioxidant activity.
This activity is either equivalent to or even surpassing that of commercially available antioxidants like butylated hydroxytoluene, butylated hydroxyanisole, and alpha-tocopherol.
Avrainvillea erecta
Avrainvillea erecta has been reported to have strong hemagglutination activity.
Moreover, the chloroform fraction of a methanol extract of this species exhibits hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity.
This activity is as strong as that shown by gallic acid, which is a powerful antioxidant.
What Does the Avrainvillea Thallus Look Like?
The thallus (or body) of Avrainvillea algae is made up of one or more stipitate blades that rise from well-developed submerged or emergent holdfasts.
These blades, stipes, and holdfasts can be reduced or modified in different species.
Some key features of the Avrainvillea thallus are:
- Stipe: Can be solitary, unbranched, and bearing a single terminal blade, or branched one to many times with each branch bearing a single terminal blade.
- Blades: Usually flabellate (fan-shaped), 2 to 30 cm tall (including stipe), never calcified, and composed of true non-septate siphons.
- Siphons: Tightly or loosely consolidated, dichotomously branched, and lacking lateral branchlets. They can be cylindrical, tortuous, torulose, or moniliform, either exclusively or in combination.
What Is the Life History of Avrainvillea?
Although the life history of Avrainvillea has not been experimentally verified, it’s believed to be similar to other udoteacean genera.
This means that it likely has a dioecious diploid erect thallus, where meiosis (a type of cell division) happens before gametogenesis (the formation of gametes).
Thalli (plural of thallus) are holocarpic, which means that the entire organism becomes reproductive tissue.
Vegetative propagation, or the process of growing new plants from existing ones, is more common and constant throughout the year.
In some species, turnover times of 4 to 6 weeks have been observed.
The time between the disappearance of an old blade and the development of a new one can be as short as 48 hours.
The rhizomatous portion of the thallus, which may represent up to 90% of the entire thallus, should be considered more than just a holdfast.
What Is the Gender of The Genus Name Avrainvillea?
The genus name Avrainvillea is currently treated as feminine in scientific classification.
This is important when referring to the algae species and describing their features.
Where Can Avrainvillea Be Found?
Avrainvillea algae have widespread geographical distribution, being found in pantropical to subtropical regions.
Some of the places where they are found include:
- Hawaii
- Mediterranean
- Australia
These algae are commonly found in various habitats such as sand plains, coral rubble, and seagrass beds. They are even found at depths of up to 60 meters underwater.
This wide-ranging distribution, along with their interesting bioactive properties and unique features, makes Avrainvillea an important and fascinating group of green algae to study.
You can check out what this plant looks like over here.
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Order: | Bryopsidales |
| Family: | Dichotomosiphonaceae |
| Genus: | Avrainvillea |
| Scientific Name: | Avrainvillea |
| Also Known As: | Fan Weed |
| Conservation Status: | Unknown |