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Role of media composition in biomass and astaxanthin production of Haematococcus pluvialis under two-stage cultivation

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Abstract

In the present study, the effects of four different culture media on the growth, astaxanthin production and morphology of Haematococcus pluvialis LUGU were studied under two-step cultivation. The interactions between astaxanthin synthesis and secondary messengers, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) were also investigated. In the first green vegetative cell stage, maximal biomass productivity (86.54 mg L−1 day−1) was obtained in BBM medium. In the induction stage, the highest astaxanthin content (21.5 mg g−1) occurred in BG-11 medium, which was higher than in any other media. The expressions of MAPK and astaxanthin biosynthetic genes in BG-11 were higher than in any other media, whereas the ROS content was lower. Biochemical and physiological analyses suggested that the ROS, MAPK and astaxanthin biosynthetic gene expression was involved in astaxanthin biosynthesis in H. pluvialis under different culture media conditions. This study proposes a two-step cultivation strategy to efficiently produce astaxanthin using microalgae.

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Acknowledgements

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 21766012 to X. Yu), the Key Science and Technology Project of Yunnan Province, China (2018ZG003 to X. Yu), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 21666012 to P. Zhao) supported this study.

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  1. Yongteng Zhao and Chenchen Yue have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, China

    Yongteng Zhao, Chenchen Yue & Xuya Yu

  2. Yunnan Academy of Forestry, Kunming, 650051, China

    Shuxiang Geng, Delu Ning & Ting Ma

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  1. Yongteng Zhao
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Correspondence to Xuya Yu.

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Zhao, Y., Yue, C., Geng, S. et al. Role of media composition in biomass and astaxanthin production of Haematococcus pluvialis under two-stage cultivation. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 42, 593–602 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-018-02064-8

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