In current study isolates of two native microalgae species were screened on the basis of growth kinetics and lipid accumulation potential. On the basis of data obtained on growth parameters and lipid accumulation, it is concluded that Scenedesmus dimorphus has better potential as biofuel feedstock. Two of the isolates of Scenedesmus dimorphus performed better than other isolates with respect to important growth parameters with lipid content of ~30% of dry biomass. Scenedesmus dimorphus was found to be more suitable as biodiesel feedstock candidate on the basis of cumulative occurrence of five important biodiesel fatty acids, relative occurrence of SFA (53.04%), MUFA (23.81%) and PUFA (19.69%), and more importantly that of oleic acid in its total lipids. The morphological observations using light and Scanning Electron Microscope and molecular characterization using amplified 18S rRNA gene sequences of microalgae species under study were also performed. Amplified 18S rRNA gene fragments of the microalgae species were sequenced, annotated at the NCBI website and phylogenetic analysis was done. We have published eight 18S rRNA gene sequences of microalgae species in NCBI GenBank.
Algal biofuels are far from a commercial reality due to the technical challenges associated with their growth and lipid extraction procedures. In this study, we investigated the effect of 4 different media and 5 different nitrogen sources at 5 levels on the growth, biomass and lipid productivity of Scenedesmus sp and Chlorella sp The hypothesis was that a nitrogen source can be identified that provides enough stress to accumulate lipids without compromising significantly on biomass and lipid productivity. A maximum specific growth rate and doubling per day have been observed with algal species using modified BG-11 medium. Among the tested nitrogen sources, 2.5 mM potassium nitrate as a nitrogen constituent of modified BG-11 medium resulted in higher lipid content and productivity in the case of S. dimorphus (29.15%, 15.449 mg L−1day−1). Another noteworthy outcome of the present study lies in the usage of a smaller amount of the nitrogen source, i.e., 2.5 mM, which is found to be 7 times less than the standard BG11 media (17.60 mM sodium nitrate).
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