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Growth and lipid synthesis promotion in mixotrophic Neochloris oleoabundans (Chlorophyta) cultivated with glucose

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Abstract

In the recent years, the studies concerning the cultivation of Neochloris oleoabundans for biofuel purposes have increased, in relation to its capability to accumulate lipids when grown under nutrient starvation. Unfortunately, this cultivation mode does not allow to reach high biomass densities, which are required to improve the feasibility of the process. Increasing knowledge of the microalgal physiology is necessary to obtain new useful information for the improvement of culture performance in the perspective of large-scale cultivation. In this work, the mixotrophic cultivation of N. oleoabundans in a brackish medium added with different glucose concentrations has been tested under shaking, with the aim of stimulating growth alongside lipid accumulation inside cells. Cell morphology, glucose consumption, photosynthetic pigment content and photosynthetic efficiency were also investigated. Among all tested glucose concentrations (0–30 g L−1), it was observed that 2.5 g L−1 was the optimal concentration, allowing to obtain the best compromise between glucose supplement, biomass production and lipid accumulation. Growth was highly enhanced in mixotrophic cultures, linked to the release of cells from sporocysts. A unique feature characterising mixotrophy in N. oleoabundans was the promotion of the maximum quantum yield of Photosystem II. Moreover, when mixotrophic cells entered the stationary phase, high lipid accumulation was induced. This study shows that the addition of glucose to N. oleoabundans remarkably increases the production of biomass enriched in lipids and represents an advancement for the cultivation of this microalga for applied purposes.

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Abbreviations

BM:

Brackish Medium

Chl:

Chlorophyll

Car:

Carotenoids

FM :

Maximum PSII fluorescence in the dark-adapted state

F0 :

Minimum fluorescence in the dark-adapted state

FV :

Variable fluorescence

PAM:

Pulse amplitude modulated fluorimetry

PSII:

Photosystem II

TAG:

Triglyceride

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants of Consorzio Universitario Italiano per l’Argentina (CUIA), of the University of Ferrara (Italy) and of Fondazione Bussolera Branca (Italy). We are grateful to Prof. Maria Teresa Indelli of the University of Ferrara, for her kind assistance in spectrofluorimetric analyses, and to Dr. Immacolata Maresca of the University of Ferrara, for technical assistance during lipid extraction.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnologies, University of Ferrara, Corso Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121, Ferrara, Italy

    Martina Giovanardi, Costanza Baldisserotto, Lorenzo Ferroni & Simonetta Pancaldi

  2. Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 1, 27100, Pavia, Italy

    Paolo Longoni & Rino Cella

Authors
  1. Martina Giovanardi
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  2. Costanza Baldisserotto
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  3. Lorenzo Ferroni
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  4. Paolo Longoni
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  5. Rino Cella
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  6. Simonetta Pancaldi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simonetta Pancaldi.

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Handling Editor: Peter Nick

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Giovanardi, M., Baldisserotto, C., Ferroni, L. et al. Growth and lipid synthesis promotion in mixotrophic Neochloris oleoabundans (Chlorophyta) cultivated with glucose. Protoplasma 251, 115–125 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-013-0531-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-013-0531-x

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