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Effect of Nutrient Starvation under High Irradiance on Lipid and Starch Accumulation in Chlorella fusca (Chlorophyta)

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Abstract

The effect of nitrogen and sulphur limitation under high irradiance (PAR) was studied in the green microalga Chlorella fusca (Chlorophyta) in order to follow lipid and/or starch accumulation. Growth, biomass composition and the changes in photosynthetic activity (in vivo chlorophyll a fluorescence) were followed in the trials. The full nutrient culture showed high biomass production and starch accumulation at Day 1, when photosynthetic activity was high. Gradual deprivation (no nutrients added) became evident when photosynthesis was significantly suppressed (Day 3 onwards), which entailed a decrease of maximum relative electron transport rate (rETRmax) and increase of non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), accompanied by the onset of lipid accumulation and decline in starch content. In N- and S-starved cultures, rETRmax significantly decreased by Day 3, which caused a substantial drop in biomass production, cell number, biovolume and induction of lipid and starch accumulation. High starch content (45–50 % of DW) was found at the initial stage in full nutrient culture and at the stationary phase in nutrient-starved cultures. By the end of the trial, all treatments showed high lipid content (~30 % of DW). The full nutrient culture had higher biomass yield than starved treatments although starch (~0.2 g L−1 day−1) and lipid (~0.15 g L−1 day−1) productivities were fairly similar in all the cultures. Our results showed that we could enrich biomass of C. fusca (% DW) in lipids using a two-stage strategy (a nutrient replete stage followed by gradual nutrient limitation) while under either procedure, N- or S-starvation, both high lipid and starch contents could be achieved.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mr Pavel Souček, Ms Soňa Pekařová and Mr Petr Novotný for technical assistance. The work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, projects AlgaTech CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0110, AlgaIn CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0059 and AlgaMan CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0203. CGJ was financed by the Short-Stage Program of the FPU grant from the Ministry of Education of the Spanish Government. The work was also supported by the research group ‘Photobiology and biotechnology of aquatic organisms’ (RNM-295) financed by Andalusian Government (Spain).

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  1. Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    Celia G. Jerez & Félix L. Figueroa

  2. Laboratory of Algal Biotechnology, Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Science, Opatovický mlýn, CZ-37981, Třeboň, Czech Republic

    José R. Malapascua, Magda Sergejevová & Jiří Masojídek

  3. Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, CZ-37005, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    José R. Malapascua & Jiří Masojídek

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  1. Celia G. Jerez
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  4. Félix L. Figueroa
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Correspondence to Celia G. Jerez.

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Jerez, C.G., Malapascua, J.R., Sergejevová, M. et al. Effect of Nutrient Starvation under High Irradiance on Lipid and Starch Accumulation in Chlorella fusca (Chlorophyta). Mar Biotechnol 18, 24–36 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-015-9664-6

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