Porphyridium purpureum is a species of red algae in the family Porphyridiophyceae. Porphyridium cruentum is considered a heterotypic synonym of P. purpureum by AlgaeBase following Drew.
The microalga Porphyridium sp. is a potential source for several products like fatty acids, lipids, cell-wall polysaccharides and pigments. The polysaccharides of this species are sulfated and their structure gives rise to some unique properties that could lead to a broad range of industrial and pharmaceutical applications. Additionally, P. cruentum biomass containing up to 57% carbohydrate have been reported. The carbohydrates in biomass and exopolysaccharides of this microalga could potentially provide feedstock for bio-fuel and pharmaceuticals. This alga contains phycoerythrin that can be extracted by lyse and chromatography.
Porphyridium purpureum is used as a model species for Rhodophyta. Remarkably, bacterial plasmids can replicate in its cell nucleus unchanged: the bacterial origin of replication "just works". This could explain the extensive presence of bacterial genes acquired through horizontal gene transfer in Rhodophyta.