RT Journal Article
T1 Enhanced productivity of a lutein-enriched novel acidophile microalgae grown on urea
A1 Casal Bejarano, Carlos
A1 Cuaresma Franco, María
A1 Vílchez Lobato, Carlos
A1 Vega Piqueres, José María
AB Coccomyxa acidophila is an extremophile eukaryotic microalga isolated from theTinto River mining area in Huelva, Spain. C. acidophila accumulates relevant amounts of b-carotene and lutein, well-known carotenoids with many biotechnological applications,especially in food and health-related industries. The acid culture medium (pH <2.5) thatprevents outdoor cultivation from non-desired microorganisms growth is one of the mainadvantages of acidophile microalgae production. On the opposite, acidophile microalgaegrowth rates are usually very low if compared to common microalgae growth rates. In thiswork, we show that phototrophic cultivation on urea efficiently enhances growth andproductivity of an acidophile microalga up to typical values for common microalgae,therefore approaching acidophile algal production towards suitable conditions for feasibleoutdoor production. Algal productivity and potential for carotenoid accumulation wereanalyzed as a function of the nitrogen source supplied. Several nitrogen conditions wereassayed: nitrogen starvation, nitrate and/or nitrite, ammonia and urea. Among them, ureaclearly led to the best cell growth (~ 4 ´ 108 cells/mL at the end of log phase). Ammoniumled to the maximum chlorophyll and carotenoid content per volume unit (220 mg/mL and 35mg/mL, respectively). When urea was added as only C and N source, no significantdifferences in growth rates were found between batch cultures grown with urea and thosegrown on nitrate as sole nitrogen source [0.12 ± 0.02 d-1 (cellular data, 1st experiment) or 0.44 ± 0.02 d-1 (chlorophyll data, 2nd experiment)]. Lutein accumulated up to 3.55 mg/g inthose photoautotrophic cultures grown on urea. In addition, algal growth in a shaded culturerevealed the first evidence for an active xanthophylls cycle operative in acidophilemicroalgae.
PB MDPI
SN 1660-3397
YR 2011
FD 2011
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10272/4307
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10272/4307
LA eng
NO CASAL BEJARANO, C. , CUARESMA FRANCO, M., VÍLCHEZ LOBATO, C., VEGA PIQUERES, J.M.: "Enhanced productivity of a lutein-enriched novel acidophile microalgae grown on urea". Marine drugs, Vol. 9, 2011. Pags. 29-42. MDPI. ISSN 1660-3397.
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 31 may 2026