• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.522-526
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• 2014

Pyropia, economic red algae species, have been cultivated in Korea (referred to as 'gim'), Japan ('nori'), and China ('zicai') for over 300 years. Vegetable seaweed Pyropia species are sold in the public markets in various forms as commercial seafoods. In Korea, two kinds of Pyropia seafood made with species of Pyropia and Ulva (sea lettuce, referred to as 'parae') are also sold. These are referred to as 'parae-gim' (with Pyropia spp. and U. linza) and 'gamtaegim' (with Pyropia spp. and U. prolifera). There is currently no method for identifying the seaweed species that comprise Pyropia seafood products. Therefore, we developed novel molecular markers to identify Ulva species in commercial Pyropia seafoods. Based on rbcL molecular markers, we identified informative characteristics to discriminate U. linza and U. prolifera as seafood ingredients. Moreover, PCR with 3'-end mismatch primers successfully isolated the specific rbcL sequences of U. linza and U. prolifera from Pyropia seafoods. Therefore, our novel molecular markers will be useful for identifying the ingredient species of commercial seafoods.