FIGURE 1 Gas chromatographic separation of the collected volatiles from fertile gynogametophytes of C. multifida. Conditions: fused silica column SE 30 (10 m x 0.32 mm); 40°C isotherm for 2 min, then at 10°C/min to 250°C; injection port: 250°C; detector: Finnigan ion trap, ITD 800; transfer line at 270°; electron impact (70 eV); scan range, 35-250 Da/sec. Due to the very low concentration of the low boiling point compounds, the total ion current in the range 3-6 min is enhanced by a factor of 6. Structures of the relevant hydrocarbons are given. Three configurational isomers appear for 7-methylcycloocta-1,3,5-triene owing to the high temperatures of the gas chromatographic separation.

population of the male gametes above the droplets of pure solvent and those containing the bioactive substances is documented by flash photography. For highly active pheromones, massive accumulation of males is observed in the range between 1 and 1000 pmol; the calculated values are valid for the saturated solvent/water interphase (21). Of the large number of the structurally very diverse compounds of Figure 1, the male gametes of C. multifida respond only to multifidene at a threshold level of 6.5 pmol and to ectocarpene at 900 pmol. The other compounds are virtually inactive. This also holds for the configurational isomers of multifidene, such as (E)-butenyl and 3,4-trans-disubstituted analogues, which on average exhibit only 1% the activity of the pheromone (21). Interestingly, even the activity difference between the natural (+)-(3S,4S)- and the synthetic (—)-(3R,4R)-multifidene is of the same order (22). Following this general sequence of isolation, characterization, synthesis, and bioassay, the pheromones of >100 species of brown algae have been determined (cf. Table 1) (3-6).

The ability of a compound to induce mass release of male gametes is approached by exposing mature male gametophytes of a species to particles of porous silica previously loaded with the test substances.