Variation in fatty acid composition of Arthrospira (Spirulina) strains

Abstract

A study of the fatty acid composition was made for 35 Arthrospira strains, concentrating on the most abundant fatty acids, the two polyunsaturated C 18 acids, linoleic and γ -linolenic acid, and palmitic acid. When grown at 30 • C and low irradiance (10 µmol photon m −2 s −1 ), these three acids together formed 88-92% of total fatty acids. There were considerable differences in the composition of the two polyunsaturated acids. Depending on the strain, linoleic acid formed 13.1-31.5% and γ -linolenic acid formed 12.9-29.4% total fatty acids. In contrast, the range for palmitic acid was narrow: 42.3-47.6% of total fatty acids. Repeat experiments on several strains under defined conditions led to closely similar results for any particular environment, suggesting that fatty acid composition can be used as an aid in differentiating between strains. Five additional strains, which had apparently originated from the same original stock cultures as 3 of the 35 in the main study, but from different culture collections, were also assayed. With four strains the results were similar, irrespective of culture source, but with one strain marked differences occurred, especially in the polyunsaturated C 18 fatty acid fraction. These differences were independent of the age of the culture. In addition, straight morphotypes derived during repeat subcultures of four strains; each showed a similar fatty acid composition to that of the helical morphotypes of the same strains. A decrease in temperature from 30 to 20 • C, an increase in irradiance (at 30 • C) from 10 to 70 µmol photon m −2 s −1 and transfer to dark heterotrophy all favoured an increase in polyunsaturated C 18 fatty acids. The highest γ -linolenic acid content of any conditions was found for three strains grown heterotrophically on glucose in the dark at 30 • C. A comparative study of six strains of Spirulina confirmed a previous study showing the absence of γ -linolenic acid in all Spirulina strains, thus permitting the separation of these two genera.

Evaluation of Spirulina Algae (Spirulina Platensis) as a Feed Supplement for Japanese Quail: Nutiritional Effects on Growth Performance, Egg Production, Egg Quality, Blood Metabolites, Sperm-Egg Penetration and Fertility

“…The blue-green micro-algae Spirulina platensis, particularly, is high in protein content ranging from 50 to 65%, which containing all of the essential amino acids (Anusuya-Davy et al, 1981). Besides, it possesses a high energy content which estimated 2839 Kcal TMEn/kg (Evans et al 2015), a high level of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (Muhling et al, 2005), and considerable amounts of microelements, vitamins, antioxidants, and carotenoids (Brune, 1982;and Belay et al, 1996). Furthermore, Spirulina was reported to increase the poultry health, improve livability, and enhance the immune function (Qureshi et al 1996;and Kanagaraju and Omprakash et al 2016).…”

A detailed time series assessment of the diet of Lesser Flamingos: further explanation for their itinerant behaviour

“…Arthrospira (Spirulina spp.) nutrient components have been widely studied (Tokuşogulu & Ü nal, 2003;Mühling et al, 2005;Zieliñska & Chojnacka, 2009). However, no studies so far have addressed variations in nutritional quality of phytoplankton community in terms of lipids, carbohydrates and crude protein content over short-term intervals in the natural environment.…”

Ocean acidification mediates photosynthetic response to UV radiation and temperature increase in the diatom <i>Phaeodactylum tricornutum</i>

“…Such changes will also have important effects on various organisms, since most physiological processes are temperaturedependent (Allakhverdiev et al, 2008). It is known that temperature affects the morphology (Mühling et al, 2003) and biochemical composition (Mühling et al, 2005) of cyanobacteria. However, differential responses to the combined "greenhouse" (warming as well as elevated CO 2 ) treatment have been found in the marine picocyanobacteria Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus, with the growth rate of the former increasing and that of the latter not changing .…”