LIPIDS OF THE RED ALGA GRACILARIA-VERRUCOSA (HUDS.) PAPENF

Fatty acid composition and total lipid content of Gracilaria verrucosa at different stages of ontogenesis were examined. Shoots, juvenile pl ants and mature algae with the thallus in the generative phase (tetras porophytes, male gametophytes and female gametophytes) had similar fat ty acid compositions. Palmitic, myristic, oleic and arachidonic (AA) a cids were the main components and AA predominated. Juvenile plants wer e the richest in AA (43% of total fatty acids) and male gametophytes h ad the lowest content of this acid (34.1%). A comparison of different parts of the female gametophyte thallus showed that the cystocarps acc umulated total lipids and AA to a greater degree than the first-order branches and the second-order ones. Two forms of G. verrucosa, attache d and unattached, showed no differences in fatty acid composition, but the attached form accumulated twice as much lipid as the unattached o ne.