ABSTRACT
Microalgae are able to metabolize inorganic selenium (Se) to organic forms (e.g. Se-proteins); nevertheless at certain Se concentration culture growth is inhibited. The aim of this work was to confirm the hypothesis that the limit of Se tolerance in Chlorella cultures is related to photosynthetic performance, i.e. depends on light intensity. We studied the relation between the dose and irradiance to find the range of Se tolerance in laboratory and outdoor cultures. At low irradiance (250 µmol photons m-2 s-1), the daily dose of Se below 8.5 mg per g of biomass (<20 µM) partially stimulated the photosynthetic activity (relative electron transport rate) and growth of Chlorella cultures (biomass density of ~1.5 g DW L-1) compared to the control (no Se added). It was accompanied by substantial Se incorporation to microalgae biomass (~0.5 mg Se g-1 DW). When the Se daily dose and level of irradiance were doubled (16 mg Se g-1 DW; 500 µmol photons m-2 s-1), the photosynthetic activity and growth were stimulated for several days and ample incorporation of Se to biomass (7.1 mg g-1 DW) was observed. Yet, the same Se daily dose under increased irradiance (750 µmol photons m-2 s-1) caused the synergistic effect manifested by significant inhibition of photosynthesis, growth and lowered Se incorporation to biomass. In the present experiments Chl fluorescence techniques were used to monitor photosynthetic activity for determination of optimal Se doses in order to achieve efficient incorporation without substantial inhibition of microalgae growth when producing Se-enriched biomass.
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.
