User:Cheny2/Ulva australis

Origin
Ulva macro-algae are distributed worldwide. There are few identifying characteristics in the taxa, so they are known to be difficult to classify. Many Ulva members found near Australia have been equated with species else where in the world. Ulva australis, first described from the samples botanist Johan Arechoug collected in Southern Australia, is one such member.

Once considered to be a temperate species, Ulva pertusa is one of the most common green algae in Japan that lives in the intertidal coast. It is native to northeastern Asia. From studying the DNA fragments extracted from collected specimens, it was discovered that Ulva pertusa and Ulva australis have almost identical DNA sequences with little sequence divergence. Researchers tested the hypothesis that U. australis is an independent species, however their hypothesis was rejected due to U. australis ' natural habitat along the shoreline being suppressed by the U. pertusa populations. Therefore, it can be concluded that Ulva australis is a species that originated in Japan and was later introduced to Australia. Some researchers hypothesize that the U. australis was not directly introduced from Japan to Australia, but rather from non-indigenous populations elsewhere in northeastern Asia.

Application in Environmental Protection
Ulva australis has diverse potential uses in field of environmental protection. Human activities frequently release metals into the sea, which causes metal pollution. Successfully measuring and remove these pollutants has been a long-time problem. When Ulva australis are in an area with severe metal pollution, the concentration of metal ions in their cell walls and vacuoles increases. This indicates that U. australis can absorb metals in the ocean. In addition, research results also show that, compared to other metals, Ulva australis has a stronger absorption capacity for zinc. The results suggest that the metal pollution of a given area could be measured by transplanting Ulva australis into the polluted area and measuring the metal ion content of its cell wall and vacuole. Moreover, Ulva australis can also be used as a biological tool to mitigate metal pollution. It should be noted that the metal absorption capacity of Ulva australis has an upper limit, and excessive metal pollution will damage their thallus. Thus, it is necessary to replace Ulva australis regularly during use in this capacity.

Application in Biotechnology
Ulva australis, as an edible seaweed, is very rich in minerals, vitamins, and noncaloric dietary fiber, and has many uses in medical and biotechnological fields. The decoction of U. australis can be used to treat several illness such as hyperlipidemia, sunstroke, and urinary diseases. Several biological activities such as anti-hyperlipidemic, antioxidant , antiviral , immunomodulatory , and anti-radiation activities were all observed from the algal sulfated polysaccharides they have. The organic extracts of Ulva australis also show many other biological activities, such as radical scavenging activity (RSA) and metal chelating activity. Moreover, Ulva australis shows inhibitory effects on the pathogenic factors of Alzheimer's disease, hyperpigmentation, Type-2 diabetes mellitus and skin sagging. This shows that Ulva australis as a common food source can be used to treat, prevent or alleviate a variety of diseases.