Production characteristics of the diatom Cylindrotheca closterium (Ehrenb.) Reimann et Lewin grown in an intensive culture at various nitrogen sources in the medium

Abstract

The diatom Cylindrotheca closterium (Ehrenberg) Reimann et Levin is characterized by high productivity (up to 1.5 g·l-1·day-1) and the ability to accumulate a valuable carotenoid fucoxanthin (up to 2 % of dry weight). In the development of biotechnology based on microalgae, the key issue is the creation of concentrated nutrient medium. Nitrogen is one of the most important components in the nutrient medium that significantly affects the production characteristics of all microalgae. The aim of this study is to compare the production characteristics of C. closterium in an intensive storage culture using different forms of nitrogen in the medium. In the first experiment, nitrate and sodium nitrite, urea, and nitrogen in the form of ammonium were used as a source of nitrogen. The amount of nitrates, nitrites, ammonium, and urea in the medium was calculated from the nitrogen content of the RS nutrient medium, with a nitrogen to phosphorus ratio of 15 : 1. In the second experiment, amino acids were used as a nitrogen source – arginine, asparagine, cysteine. The possibility of using the microalgae C. closterium for the growth of various organic sources of nitrogen (urea, cysteine, asparagine) was shown. Productive characteristics in the intensive storage culture of C. closterium using urea, cysteine, and asparagine as the sole source of nitrogen in the RS nutrient medium were determined. It is shown that when urea was used, the productivity reached its maximum values and amounted to 1.5 g·l-1·day-1. Thus, the expediency of using urea in the medium for obtaining the maximum yield of biomass was shown. The use of cysteine in the stationary phase of growth to achieve a long stationary phase with minimal concentrations of the nitrogen source in the nutrient medium is also advisable. It was found that C. closterium was able to grow and vegetate at sufficiently high concentrations of nitrite, and the addition of nitrogen in ammonium form to the nutrient medium during the active growth of C. closterium led to inhibition of all metabolic processes and to the death of the culture.