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Scenedesmus sp. NJ-1 isolated from Antarctica: a suitable renewable lipid source for biodiesel production

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Abstract

Microalgal lipids are promising alternative feedstocks for biodiesel production. Scenedesmus sp. NJ-1, an oil-rich freshwater microalga isolated from Antarctica, was identified to be a suitable candidate to produce biodiesel in this study. This strain could grow at temperatures ranging from 4 to 35 °C. With regular decrease in nitrate concentration in the medium, large quantities of triacylglycerols accumulated under batch culture conditions detected by thin layer chromatography and BODIPY 505/515 fluorescent staining. Scenedesmus sp. NJ-1 achieved the average biomass productivity of 0.105 g l−1 d−1 (dry weight) and nearly the highest lipid content (35 % of dry cell weight) was reached at day 28 in the batch culture. Neutral lipids accounted for 78 % of total lipids, and C18:1 (n-9), C16:0 were the major fatty acids in total lipids, composing 37 and 20 % of total fatty acids of Scenedesmus sp. NJ-1 grown for 36 days, respectively. These results suggested that Scenedesmus sp. NJ-1 was a good source of microalgal oils for biodiesel production.

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Abbreviations

TAGs:

Triacylglycerols

TLC:

Thin layer chromatography

NL:

Neutral lipids

GL:

Glycolipids

PL:

Phospholipids

DCW:

Dry cell weight

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Key Basic Research Project of China (2011CB200901) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40606004).

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Correspondence to Hanhua Hu.

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Chen, Z., Gong, Y., Fang, X. et al. Scenedesmus sp. NJ-1 isolated from Antarctica: a suitable renewable lipid source for biodiesel production. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 28, 3219–3225 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-012-1132-0

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