Family: Laminariaceae [E-flora]
"A profusely branched holdfast anchors this species to rocks. A single rather flattened stipe up to 1.5 cm (over 0.5 in) wide and of variable length up to 65 cm (about 25 in) is embellished with numerous fine longitudinal striations. This stipe supports a single yellowish-brown to chocolate-brown undivided, oval blade. The blade carries five or seven parallel ribs (no other local alga has this distinctive feature), and these project alternately above and below the surface of the blade. The blade is profusely wrinkled or puckered between these ribs, hence the common name since it resembles seersucker fabric. The blade measures up to 2 m (about 6.5 feet) long and 35 cm (about 14 in) wide." [NPS-E-flora]
"This species is quite common both in inshore waters and on the outer coast. Sea urchins are among its most important grazers." [NPS-E-flora]
"Seersucker is usually an annual (but in some areas, it can be perennial). Blades reach their peak of development in our area by the end of May, and within a month they are tattered and sickly looking and definitely past their prime for the season. The species is low in caloric value (2.94 Calories per gram of dry weight)." [NPS-E-flora]
"In British Columbia, Seersucker individuals on the exposed west coast of Vancouver Island have narrower, thicker and more strap-like blades than individuals in more protected places such as near Vancouver. Individuals from exposed sites in southern British Columbia/northern Washington can withstand immersion in water at 20°C (68°F) for a week, but die at higher temperatures. Recent molecular studies have shown that Costaria is closely related to Laminaria." [NPS-E-flora]
"Bathymetry: low intertidal and upper subtidal World Distribution: Unalaska Island, Alaska, to southern California; northern Japan; Russia" [NPS-E-flora]
"Used for foodstuff in NE Pacific, especially for the manufacture of potash salts (Tokida 1954)." [Pereira ESW]
"C. costata is sometimes eaten by coastal people (Korea) when the plants are young and tender. Lacking the muciliage of other kelp species makes C. costata much more palatable." [Pereira ESW]
"Used by Nuu-chah-nulth for collecting herring eggs; sometimes eaten with them" (Turner and Efrat, 1982) [Turner&Kuhnlein]
Costaria costata - 1.7% Protein content (dry matter basis) - Imbs et al., 2011 [Dominguez FIAFN]
AL (Aldehydes): (E)-2-Nonenal; (E, Z)-2,6-nonadienal; (Z, Z)-3,6-nonadienal [73]. [Ramawat NP]
ALC (Alcohols): (E)-2-Nonenol; (E, Z)-2,6-nonadienol [73]. [Ramawat NP]
TERP (Terpenes): Cubenol [73]. [Ramawat NP]
UVB Protection: "Fucoidan inhibits UV-B-induced matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) enzyme activity by inhibiting the extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) pathways in human skin fibroblasts (Moon et al., 2008). In addition, fucoidan from Costaria costata was active against UV-B-induced MMP-1 promoter, mRNA and protein expression in vitro in human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells (Moon et al., 2009)." [Dominguez FIAFN]
"This research highlights how fucoidan, a compound often found in seaweed, acts as a protective agent against sun-induced skin damage. When skin is exposed to UV-B radiation (the type of sunlight that causes sunburn), it triggers the activation of an enzyme called matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1). MMP-1 is problematic because it breaks down collagen, a vital protein that keeps skin firm and youthful. The activation of MMP-1 is orchestrated by internal cellular communication systems known as extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) pathways. Studies demonstrate that fucoidan effectively inhibits (blocks) the activity of MMP-1 by disrupting these ERK pathways in skin cells called human skin fibroblasts (Moon et al., 2008)." [Gemini]
"Furthermore, a specific fucoidan from Costaria costata was found to go a step further, not only stopping MMP-1's activity but also preventing its very creation. It achieves this by interfering with the genetic instructions (promoter, mRNA, and protein expression) that lead to MMP-1 production in human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells, another key type of skin cell (Moon et al., 2009). In essence, fucoidan offers a two-pronged defense: it disarms the collagen-degrading enzyme and stops its manufacturing process, thereby mitigating the damaging effects of sun exposure on skin." [Gemini]
"Ultraviolet (UV) B irradiation is one of the factors, which cause upregulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) expression via triggering cellular signaling cascades, which are responsible for the degradation or synthesis inhibition of collagenous extracellular matrix in connective tissues, causing skin photoaging. In vitro the inhibitory effects of fucoidan from F. vesiculosus (Moon et al., 2008), F. evanescens (Ku et al., 2010), and Costaria costata (Moon et al., 2009) on MMP-1 expression in the normal human newborn foreskin fibroblasts HS68 cells and the immortalized human keratinocyte HaCaT cell line, respectively, were investigated. It was indicated that fucoidans may prevent UVB-induced MMP-1 expression transcriptionally, translationally, and by affecting protein function. MMP-1 is known to be upregulated via UVB-induced ERK, JNK, and p38 MAPK kinases (Kim et al., 2005). Therefore, authors hypothesize that fucoidans may inhibit MMP-1 expression by blocking the ERK, JNK, and p38 pathway. ERKs activation was found to be markedly inhibited by treatment with investigated fucoidans. However, JNK and p38 activation were only slightly affected by them. Overall, the data indicate that antimetastatic properties of fucoidan may be beneficial in cancer therapy. However, again, the effect of fucoidans depends on their structure and the type of cancer cells used." [Kim SP]
"Apart from many biological functions from fucoidan is also have antitumor effects, but its mechanism is not fully understood. Brown seaweeds, such as Sargassum hornery, Eclonia cava, and Costaria costata isolated fucoidans showed anticancer effect to colon and melanoma cancer cells (Ermakova et al., 2011)." [Kim SP]
"The fucoidans from brown algae Ecklonia cava, Sargassum hornery, and Costaria costata prevented colony formation in human melanoma and colon cancer cells (Ermakova et al., 2011)." [Qin BSFA]
"...fucoidans from Sargassum horneri, E. cava, and Costaria costata [99] have anticancer effects on human colon cancer cells." [Marine Algae]
"The antithrombotic serine protease (CCP), purified from this species, could have therapeutic potential for the treatment of thrombosis (Kim et al. 2013)." [Pereira ESW]
ACE inhibitory, Antioxidant, Antitumor & Antityrosinase (Lee et al. (2005)) [MPP Kim]
"Some cells or germlings in the in- tertidal region are subsequently killed by adverse phys- ical conditions (Liming 1980b; Santelices et al. 1981; Underwood 1981b; Seapy & Littler 1982). For example, Costaria costata and other kelps in British Columbia de- velop in the intertidal during spring, when low tides oc- cur during the early hours. In early summer, warmer weather and daytime low tides combine to produce tem- perature/desiccation stress lethal to individuals above the sublittoral fringe (L. D. Druehl & M. J. Duncan un- published data)." [Lobban SEP]
"Cladophora stimpsonii, Viva fenestrata, and Laminaria saccharina showed photosynthetic inhibition by 7 ppm of Prudhoe Bay crude oil, while Costaria costata was unaffected (Shiels et al. 1973). The effects were most acute at high irradiance." [Lobban SEP]