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Specific light uptake rates can enhance astaxanthin productivity in Haematococcus lacustris

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Abstract

Lumostatic operation was applied for efficient astaxanthin production in autotrophic Haematococcus lacustris cultures using 0.4-L bubble column photobioreactors. The lumostatic operation in this study was performed with three different specific light uptake rates (q e) based on cell concentration, cell projection area, and fresh weight as one-, two- and three-dimensional characteristics values, respectively. The q e value from the cell concentration (q e1D) obtained was 13.5 × 10−8 μE cell−1 s−1, and the maximum astaxanthin concentration was increased to 150 % compared to that of a control with constant light intensity. The other optimum q e values by cell projection area (q e2D) and fresh weight (q e3D) were determined to be 195 μE m−2 s−1 and 10.5 μE g−1 s−1 for astaxanthin production, respectively. The maximum astaxanthin production from the lumostatic cultures using the parameters controlled by cell projection area (2D) and fresh weight (3D) also increased by 36 and 22 % over that of the controls, respectively. When comparing the optimal q e values among the three different types, the lumostatic cultures using q e based on fresh weight showed the highest astaxanthin productivity (22.8 mg L−1 day−1), which was a higher level than previously reported. The lumostatic operations reported here demonstrated that more efficient and effective astaxanthin production was obtained by H. lacustris than providing a constant light intensity, regardless of which parameter is used to calculate the specific light uptake rate.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Marine Biotechnology Program funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea (Project No.: 200255). The authors are also grateful to the Manpower Development Program for Marine Energy from the same ministry. Hanwool Park was supported by Global Ph.D. Fellowship Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (Project No.: 2013032623).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. National Marine Bioenergy R&D Center & Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University, Incheon, 22212, Korea

      Ho-Sang Lee, Z-Hun Kim, Hanwool Park & Choul-Gyun Lee

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    1. Ho-Sang Lee
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    2. Z-Hun Kim
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    3. Hanwool Park
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    4. Choul-Gyun Lee
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    Correspondence to Choul-Gyun Lee.

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    Ho-Sang Lee and Z-Hun Kim have contributed equally to this work.

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    Lee, HS., Kim, ZH., Park, H. et al. Specific light uptake rates can enhance astaxanthin productivity in Haematococcus lacustris . Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 39, 815–823 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-016-1561-5

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