Effect of nutrients on the growth of a new alpine strain of Haematococcus (Chlorophyceae) from New Zealand

Abstract

SUMMARY The microalga Haematococcus lacustris is a source of astaxanthin used widely in aquaculture, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. A new strain of Haematococcus (LCR‐26C‐1f) isolated from the New Zealand alpine zone was evaluated in this study. The influence of vitamins, micronutrients, various carbon and nitrogen sources were investigated to maximize biomass production in batch cultures using shake flasks. Supplementation of vitamins consisting of thiamine, biotin, and cyanocobalamin improved the cell density by 40% over the vitamin‐free medium. Out of the individual vitamins tested, thiamine was shown to be necessary to maintain high cell densities. The best nitrogen source tested was nitrate in the form of sodium nitrate, at a 40 mM concentration. Heterotrophic growth yielded much lower cell densities compared to autotrophic growth. The micronutrients iron and manganese were essential for growth. However, the best growth was obtained using a micronutrient mix that included iron, copper, cobalt, zinc, manganese and molybdenum.

Effect of culturing parameters on the vegetative growth of Haematococcus alpinus (strain lcr‐cc‐261f) and modeling of its growth kinetics

“…Parallel experimental studies showed that the addition of a vitamin mix promoted cell growth in our strain (Mazumdar et al. ,b). However, the presence of B 1 (thiamine HCl), B 12 (cyanocobalamin), and B 7 (biotin) in MLA medium would increase large scale cultivation costs.…”

“…Haematococcus alpinus (strain LCR‐CC‐261f) used in this study is a new species (Mazumdar et al. ,b) and these results constitute the first set of data to compare it with other strains of Haematococcus available in literature.…”

“…Morphological and phylogenetic studies based on 18S ribosomal (r) RNA, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rRNA, rbc L genes showed that the strain is a new species (Mazumdar et al. ,b), with the validly published name H. alpinus . This species was morphologically distinct from others by location, number, and thickness of cytoplasmic strands.…”

“…It was additionally distinguished from H. lacustris , the type species of Haematococcus based on pyrenoid number, protoplast shape and cell length (Mazumdar et al. ,b). GenBank accession numbers for H. alpinus (strain LCR‐CC‐261f) are: ( rbc L); (18S); (ITS).…”

Microalgae: Cultivation Aspects and Bioactive Compounds

“…Microalgae growing under heterotrophic cultivation depend upon metabolism of organic compounds available that will provide carbon source and energy [42] and have a much smaller surface to volume ratio requirement than autotrophic cultivations [43] due to their ability to grow under dark conditions [42].…”