The effect of temperature and irradiance on the growth and carotenogenic capacity of seven strains of Dunaliella salina (Chlorophyta) cultivated under laboratory conditions
Biol. Res
;
38(2/3): 151-162, 2005. tab, graf
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-424719
ABSTRACT
The carotenogenic microalga Dunaliella salina is cultivated as a natural source of ¾-carotene. The 9-cis isomer of ¾-carotene is found only in natural sources having commercial advantages over the all-trans isomer due to its high liposolubility and antioxidant power. High irradiance appears to stimulate specifically all-trans ¾-carotene accumulationin D. salina, whereas low temperature apparently elicits ¾-carotene and 9-cis ¾-carotene production. We studied the effect of temperature and irradiance on the growth and the carotenogenesis of three Chilean (CONC-001, CONC-006 and CONC-007) and four non-Chilean (from Mexico, China, Australia and Israel) strains of D. salina cultivated under two photon flux densities (40 and 110 _ 6mol photons.m-2.s-1) and two temperatures (15 and 26ùª C). The Chilean strain CONC-001 and all of the non-Chilean strains exhibited the highest growth rates and the maximum cell densities, whereas the Chilean strains CONC-006 and CONC-007 showed the lowest values in both parameters. The Australian strain showed the highest accumulation of total carotenoids per unit volume (40.7 mg.L-1), whereas the Chilean strains CONC-006 and CONC-007, the only ones isolated from Andean environments, yielded the highest amounts of carotenoids per cell (61.1 and 92.4 pg.cell_1, respectively). Temperature was found to be more effective than irradiance in changing the qualitative and quantitative carotenoids composition. The Chilean strains accumulated 3.5-fold more ¾-carotene than the non-Chilean strains when exposed to 15ùª C and, unlike the non-Chilean strains, also accumulated this pigment at 26ùª C. The 9-cis/all-trans ¾-carotene ratio was > 1.0 in all treatments for all strains, and the values were not greatly influenced by either temperature or photon flux density. Physiological and biotechnological implications of these results are discussed.
Full text:
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Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Seaweed
/
Carotenoids
Type of study:
Qualitative research
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Asia
/
Chile
/
Mexico
/
Oceania
Language:
English
Journal:
Biol. Res
Journal subject:
Biology
Year:
2005
Type:
Article
/
Project document
Affiliation country:
Chile
Institution/Affiliation country:
Universidad de Concepci¢n/CL
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