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Growth Parameters, Photosynthetic Performance, and Biochemical Characterization of Newly Isolated Green Microalgae in Response to Culture Condition Variations

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Abstract

This work aimed to characterize two native microalgal strains newly isolated from South Mediterranean areas and identified as Chlorella sorokiniana ES3 and Neochloris sp. AM2. The growth properties and biochemical composition of these microalgae were evaluated in different culture media (Algal, BG-11, f/2, and Conway). Among the tested media, nitrate- and phosphate-rich Algal medium provided the maximum biomass productivities (85.5 and 111.5 mg l−1 day−1 for C. sorokiniana and Neochloris sp., respectively), while the nitrate- and phosphate-deficient f/2 medium resulted in the highest lipid productivities (24.1 and 35.8 mg l−1 day−1 for C. sorokiniana and Neochloris sp., respectively). The physiological state of both microalgae was investigated under different light and temperature levels using the pulse amplitude-modulated fluorometry. The better photosynthetic efficiency of C. sorokiniana was obtained at 23 °C with a light saturation of 156 μE m−2 s−1, while that of Neochloris sp. was achieved at 15 °C with a light saturation of 151 μE m−2 s−1. The analysis of fatty acid profile and biodiesel parameters revealed that C. sorokiniana, cultivated in Algal and f/2 media, can be considered as a suitable candidate for high-quality biodiesel production.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research-University of Carthage (Tunisia) for supporting Souhir Jazzar with a grant for young researcher for a period of 3 years during her thesis. The authors would like to acknowledge the professors, Emilio Molina-Grima, Francisco Gabriel Acién-Fernández, and José María Fernández-Sevilla from the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Almería, E-04120 Almería (Spain), for their relevant discussions and scientific support in the PAM measurements of microalgae. The authors are also grateful to Ms. Donia Weslati for the English check of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LIP-MB Laboratory (LR11ES24), INSAT-University of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia

    Souhir Jazzar, Nadia Berrejeb, Mohamed Néjib Marzouki & Issam Smaali

  2. Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology, INSAT-University of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia

    Chokri Messaoud

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  1. Souhir Jazzar
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  2. Nadia Berrejeb
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Correspondence to Issam Smaali.

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Jazzar, S., Berrejeb, N., Messaoud, C. et al. Growth Parameters, Photosynthetic Performance, and Biochemical Characterization of Newly Isolated Green Microalgae in Response to Culture Condition Variations. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 179, 1290–1308 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-016-2066-z

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