Assessment of Arabian Gulf Seaweeds from Kuwait as Sources of Nutritionally Important Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFAs)

Funding: We are grateful to the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) for PhD funding for H.A.-A. We are thankful to the National Unit for Environmental Research and Services (NUERS) at Kuwait University, Project # SRUIL01/13 and the Department of Marine Sciences for providing their facilities and labs. We equally thank the UK Natural Environment Research Council for their support to F.C.K. (program Oceans 2025–WP 4.5 and grants NE/D521522/1 and NE/J023094/1). This work also received support from the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland pooling initiative. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions. PK would like to acknowledge European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 839151 for fundingPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Iodine and fluorine concentrations in seaweeds of the Arabian Gulf identified by morphology and DNA barcodes

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) for PhD funding for Hanan Al-Adilah. We are thankful the sequencing facility in Kuwait University (Project # GS01/02) and Department of Marine Sciences for using their facilities and labs. We would equally like to thank the UK Natural Environment Research Council for their support to FCK (program Oceans 2025 – WP 4.5 and grants NE/D521522/1 and NE/J023094/1). This work also received support from the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland pooling initiative. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and contributing institutions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Halogens in seaweeds : Biological and Environmental Significance

Acknowledgments: We are grateful to the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) for PhD 1129 funding for Hanan Al-Adilah and to the European Commission for a Marie Curie International In- 1130 coming Fellowship (Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme of the European Union un- 1131 der the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 839151) to Puja Kumari. We would equally 1132 like to thank the UK Natural Environment Research Council for their support to FCK (program 1133 Oceans 2025 – WP 4.5 and grants NE/D521522/1 and NE/J023094/1) and LJC (grant NE/N009983/1). 1134 This work also received support from the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland 1135 pooling initiative. MASTS is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (grant reference HR09011) and 1136 contributing institutions. MCF, FCK and HAA thank the Lorentz Center (funded by the Netherlands 1137 Organization for Scientific Research, NWO, and the University of Leiden) for the organization of 1138 the workshop ‘IODINE: Biogeochemical Cycle of Iodine and Human Health’ (Oct. 4-6, 2017) which 1139 partly inspired this review. LJC acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) 1140 under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme (project O3-SML; grant agreement no. 1141 833290).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Trace element concentrations in seaweeds of the Arabian Gulf identified by morphology and DNA barcodes

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Laminaria kelps impact iodine speciation chemistry in coastal seawater

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Joanna Smart, Andrew Mogg, Hugh Brown and Elaine Azzopardi (Tritonia Scientific) and Wilfried Thomas (Roscoff) for diving support. We are also grateful to Kathryn Dawson (Tritonia Scientific) for drawing the maps in Fig. 1 and to Joanna Smart (University of Tasmania and Tritonia Scientific) for providing the photograph in Fig. 22. The authors are grateful for support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 730984, for ASSEMBLE+ awards no. 410 (to CJC, for the visit to Tritonia Scientific Ltd. and the Scottish Association for Marine Science) and no. 370 (to FCK, for the visit to the Station Biologique de Roscoff / CNRS-Sorbonne Universités). Funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through grants NE/D521522/1, NE/F012705/1, and Oceans 2025 (WP4.5) programs to FCK; the National Science Foundation (CHE-1664657) to CJC and FCK; the MASTS pooling initiative (Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland, funded by the Scottish Funding Council and contributing institutions; grant reference HR09011) and a fellowship from the Hanse-Wissenschaftkolleg (HWK) to CJC are also gratefully acknowledged.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Laminaria kelps impact iodine speciation chemistry in coastal seawater

Kelp (Laminaria digitata) uses iodide as a unique inorganic antioxidant to protect its surface and apoplastic space against reactive oxygen species such as ozone, hydrogen peroxide and superoxide, with implications for atmospheric and marine chemistry as well as regional climatic processes. If kelp is covered by seawater, this results in iodide leaching into surrounding sea water. In this study, the influence of the kelps Laminaria digitata, L. hyperborea, L. ochroleuca and Saccharina latissima on iodine speciation chemistry was explored at two sites in Oban (Argyll, Scotland) and Roscoff (Brittany, France) based on diver-operated in situ sampling. Seawater samples were subsequently analysed voltammetrically, accompanied by determination of extractable iodine concentrations in the tissues of the thalli surveyed by ICP-MS. The main result is that iodide concentrations in the vicinity of kelp thalli are strongly enhanced, especially at low tide, while iodate concentrations are decreased in comparison to open coastal water and open ocean concentrations