marine drugs Article Phlorotannin and Pigment Content of Native Canopy-Forming Sargassaceae Species Living in Intertidal Rockpools in Brittany (France): Any Relationship with Their Vertical Distribution and Phenology? Camille Jégou 1 , Solène Connan 2 , Isabelle Bihannic 2, Stéphane Cérantola 3, Fabienne Guérard 2 and Valérie Stiger-Pouvreau 2,* 1 Laboratoire de Biotechnologie et Chimie Marine (LBCM) EA 3884, Université de Brest, 6 Rue de l’université, F-29334 Quimper, France;
[email protected] 2 Laboratoire des Sciences de l’Environnement (LEMAR) UMR 6539, Université de Brest, CNRS, IRD, Ifremer, F-29280 Plouzane, France;
[email protected] (S.C.);
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[email protected] (F.G.) 3 Service Commun de RMN-RPE, Université de Brest, F-29200 Brest, France;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +33-2-9849-8806 Abstract: Five native Sargassaceae species from Brittany (France) living in rockpools were surveyed over time to investigate photoprotective strategies according to their tidal position. We gave ev- idences for the existence of a species distribution between pools along the shore, with the most Citation: Jégou, C.; Connan, S.; dense and smallest individuals in the highest pools. Pigment contents were higher in lower pools, Bihannic, I.; Cérantola, S.; Guérard, F.; suggesting a photo-adaptive process by which the decreasing light irradiance toward the low shore Stiger-Pouvreau, V. Phlorotannin and was compensated by a high production of pigments to ensure efficient photosynthesis. Conversely, Pigment Content of Native no xanthophyll cycle-related photoprotective mechanism was highlighted because high levels of Canopy-Forming Sargassaceae zeaxanthin rarely occurred in the upper shore.