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Effect of culture condition on the growth, biochemical composition and EPA production of alkaliphilic Nitzschia plea isolated in the Southeast of China

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Abstract

To overcome the contamination in open pond, microalgal strain selection should focus on species with tolerability to extreme environments. In this study, a native alkaliphilic algae, diatom Nitzschia plea was obtained in Southeast of China, which could tolerate high concentration of NaHCO3 (0.15 mol/L) and high pH (> 10). The effects of initial pH, light intensity and temperature on cell growth, biochemical composition and fatty acid profile of N. plea were investigated. Results indicated its specific growth rate could reach 1.2 day−1, lipid content was in the range 14.6–30.2% of dry weight, eicosapntemacnioc acid (EPA, C20:5) accounted for around 15% of total fatty acids. Alkalic condition benefited for both cell growth and EPA synthesis. Appropriately increasing light intensity and temperature could improve cell growth rate and lipid synthesis, although the proportion of EPA in total fatty acids decreased slightly. The optimal culture condition (pH 9.00, temperature 35.0 °C, light intensity 158.6 µmol/m2s) was suggested for maximum yield of EPA based on the response surface model. The overall biomass productivity and EPA productivity were 0.301 g/L/day and 7.43 mg/L/day, respectively. In conclusion, alkalic environment was helpful for the steady operation of open pond cultivation of N. plea with the characteristics of fast growth rate and high EPA content, which exhibited its commercial value.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by National Key R&D Program of China (2016YF0601005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Dongmei Zhang, Shumei Wen, Xia Wu & Wei Cong

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  1. Dongmei Zhang
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  2. Shumei Wen
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  3. Xia Wu
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  4. Wei Cong
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Correspondence to Wei Cong.

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Fig. e1

Photomicrographs under light microscopy at 400×magnification of isolated Nitzschia plea (TIF 2185 KB)

Fig. e2

Comparison of specific growth rate of Nitzschia plea in different medium (EPS 3524 KB)

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Zhang, D., Wen, S., Wu, X. et al. Effect of culture condition on the growth, biochemical composition and EPA production of alkaliphilic Nitzschia plea isolated in the Southeast of China. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 41, 831–839 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-018-1917-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-018-1917-0

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