How to cultivate Ectocarpus

This article describes the standard procedure for growing Ectocarpus in the laboratory. The culture is started with partheno-sporophyte (or sporophyte) filaments because this is the stage that is usually maintained in strain collections. The standard medium is Provasoli-enriched natural seawater (PES), but Ectocarpus can also be grown in artificial seawater, which allows more precise control over the culture conditions. The algae can be cultivated either in plastic Petri dishes or in 10-L bottles with bubbling, if large amounts of biomass are required. Standard growth conditions are 13°C with a 12h/12h d/night cycle and 20 µmol photons m(-2) s(-1) irradiance using daylight-type fluorescent tubes. All manipulations of Ectocarpus cultures should be performed in a clean environment (if possible, under a laminar flow hood). Forceps should be dipped in ethanol and allowed to dry under the hood.