COMBO
High-value compounds from Novel seaweed species
Funded
Ireland, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, South Africa
From 2024
What we are doing
The Project
COMBO explores innovative molecular techniques to enhance the cultivation of seaweed and sponges for high-value applications in the pharmaceutical industry. Target seaweed species include Laurencia pinnatifida and Dictyota dichotoma, which produce bioactive terpenes with anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties. The project integrates OMICS technology to accelerate domestication and co-cultivation with microbes for optimized growth, and contamination suppression.
Hortimare contributes by providing seed stock and expertise for land-based cultivation trials in collaboration with Mungo Murphy’s Seaweed Company in Ireland. To be able to provide seedstock, Hortimare needs to develop the protocols to establish a clean gene bank for these species. Some of these challenges include; identifying the environmental triggers for fertilisation and establishing transport protocols for starting material and wild source material.
Consortium Partners
- University of Galway – IE
- University of Tours – FR
- University of Angers – FR
- Wageningen University – NL
- Technical University of Denmark – DK
- University of Cape Town – RSA
- CNRS – FR
- Universidade de Santiago de Compostela – SP
- Hortimare
- Mungo Murphy’s Seaweed – IE
- Fundacion Medina – SP
- Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant – BE
Hortimare has provided key information to establish an SOP on the collection and shipment of seaweed samples for safe transportation among COMBO partners. They are currently working in developing a clean source of seedstock which enables the cultivation of our target species.