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Comparative analysis of growth and carotenoid accumulation of Trentepohlia arborum in aerial, subaerial, and aquatic cultivation

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Abstract

The aerial filamentous microalga, Trentepohlia arborum (Chlorophyta), was cultured in three habitats - an aerial, a subaerial and an aquatic one - using different types of bioreactors. The growth, carotenoid productivity, and morphologic differences of T. arborum in different habitats were investigated. The maximum specific growth rate (μ) of the alga obtained in the logarithmic phase in the subaerial habitat was 0.034 h−1. HPLC analysis also demonstrated that T. arborum accumulated a high content of carotenoids. Zeaxanthin was the primary carotenoid in subaerial culture, while β,β-carotene was dominant in aerial culture. The maximum carotenoid productivity, 67.7 mg m−2 day−1, was reached when T. arborum was cultured in the subaerial habitat under nitrogen depletion using a novel attached cultivation bioreactor. Overall, it was demonstrated that T. arborum exhibited a relatively high growth rate and carotenoid productivity under attached cultivation.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Prof. Guoxiang Liu and Dr. Huan Zhu from the Institute of Hydrobiology, CAS, for their illuminating communication and gifting the strains. This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (41276144) and the Science and Technology Development Plan of Shandong Province (2013GGF01008).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

    Lin Chen, Lanlan Zhang, Wei Zhang & Tianzhong Liu

  2. College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, People’s Republic of China

    Lanlan Zhang

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Lin Chen

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  1. Lin Chen
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  2. Lanlan Zhang
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  3. Wei Zhang
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  4. Tianzhong Liu
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Correspondence to Tianzhong Liu.

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Chen, L., Zhang, L., Zhang, W. et al. Comparative analysis of growth and carotenoid accumulation of Trentepohlia arborum in aerial, subaerial, and aquatic cultivation. J Appl Phycol 27, 1079–1087 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-014-0436-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-014-0436-x

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