Electronic Journal of Biology

Effect of Nitrogen-containing Compounds on Growth Characteristic of the Oleaginous Microalga Chlorella ellipsoidea SD-0701

Microalgae have been the focus of intensive global research over the past few years because their great advantages as a new biomass source for biofuel production. In this study, we investigated the cellular content of major biomolecules in Chlorella ellipsoidea SD-0701 including total lipids, protein and chlorophyll in response to different nitrogen-containing compounds and characterized effects on the cell metabolism. The results indicated that complex nitrogen-containing compounds in the media were more nutritional than simple nitrogen-containing compounds, and yeast extract is the optimum nitrogen-containing compound for the growth of C. ellipsoidea SD-0701. When the concentration of yeast extract was increased from 0 g L-1 to 6 g L-1, chlorophyll and the expression of intracellular soluble proteins were also increased linearly, especially the expression of the 48 kDa ammonium transporter and the 47.4 kDa GTPase. And the biomass and lipid yield were also increased with the concentration of yeast extract added in medium. This study suggest that nitrogen sources were provided to improve the content of cellular solute protein and chlorophyll in C. ellipsoidea SD 0701 so that high algae biomass can be achieved. The concentration of nitrogen source was one of the most important factors for the high algae biomass.

Author(s): Lili Liu, Wenyu Luo, Yichen Zhang, Jing Zhuang1, Fujie Zhang

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