ANTIFOULING EFFECTS OF GRACILARIA EDULIS TO SCREEN THE BIOCHEMICAL AND CYTOTOXICITY ASSAY IN MALLIPATTINAM HARBOUR

Abstract

Ship operators have faced the problem of biofouling, or the adhesion and growth of organisms on submerged, man-made surfaces, for at least two millennia. Barnacles and other sessile marine invertebrates contribute to biofouling, which raises the frictional resistance of a ship's hull and increases the power and fuel needed to maintain speed. More than a century ago, scientists and engineers realized that a deeper understanding of the biology of the organisms involved particularly with regard to larval settlement and metamorphosis as well as adhesives and adhesion would be necessary to solve the biofouling problem. Using barnacles has been a valuable tool for this research. One strategy for studying innovative non-toxic anti-fouling materials used in this study is to take advantage of some marine organisms' intrinsic ability to manufacture chemical defense compounds in order to maintain an epibiont-free surface. In this study Gracilaria edulis was intensely analyzed for its biochemical constituents like protein and lipid content along with the cytotoxicity analysis. These newly developed materials can be helpful probes to further our understanding of these processes, even though basic research on topics like the nature of the interaction between organismal adhesives and the substrate or the ability of settling larvae to perceive surface cues has not had a significant impact on the development of most current biofouling control technologies.