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K E L P
R E S O U R C E S
BAMFIELD, BRITISH COLUMBIA



KELP DISCOVERIES

From time-to-time we will post notes on interesting tidbits and their sources on this web page.

Kelp Perfume. German scientists, K. Lüning and D.G. Müller, have discovered a pheromone (perfume) produced by the microscopic female kelp plant that causes the release and directs the sperm to the egg - no small task in that large, often turbulent ocean. Reportedly, the discovery was made when the researchers smelled what they thought was gin in the laboratory but in reality was the sexual pheromone. I find it interesting that two very different substances solicit similar responses in kelp and humans.

Reference: K. Lüning and D. G. Müller (1978). Chemical interaction in sexual reproduction of several Laminariales (Phaeophyceae): release and attraction of spermatozoids. Zeitschrift für Pflanzenphysiologie volume 89, pages 333-341.

Comparative studies on the effect of the kelp pheromone (lamoxirene) have revealed that the microscopic female kelp plant of any species can attract the sperm of any other kelp species. This raises the interesting question: if all kelp species are sexually compatible how are the distinctive differences we see between species maintained? We are presently exploring this question.

Reference: D. G. Müller, I. Maier, and G. Gassmann (1985). Survey on sexual pheromone specificity in Laminariales (Phaeophyceae). Phycologia volume 24, pages 475-477.