Effect of different CO.sub.2 concentrations on biomass, pigment content, and lipid production of the marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana

• Published in: Applied microbiology and biotechnology Vol. 102; no. 4; pp. 1945 - 1954
• Main Authors: Sabia, Alessandra, Clavero, Esther, Pancaldi, Simonetta, Salvadó Rovira, Joan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 01-02-2018
• Subjects: Carbon dioxide; Diatoms; Health aspects; Lipid metabolism; Observations
• ISSN: 0175-7598; 1432-0614
• DOI: 10.1007/s00253-017-8728-0

The marine diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana grown under air (0.04% CO.sub.2) and 1 and 5% CO.sub.2 concentrations was evaluated to determine its potential for CO.sub.2 mitigation coupled with biodiesel production. Results indicated that the diatom cultures grown at 1 and 5% CO.sub.2 showed higher growth rates (1.14 and 1.29 div day.sup.-1, respectively) and biomass productivities (44 and 48 mg.sub.AFDWL.sup.-1 day.sup.-1) than air grown cultures (with 1.13 div day.sup.-1 and 26 mg.sub.AFDWL.sup.-1 day.sup.-1). The increase of CO.sub.2 resulted in higher cell volume and pigment content per cell of T. pseudonana. Interestingly, lipid content doubled when air was enriched with 1-5% CO.sub.2. Moreover, the analysis of the fatty acid composition of T. pseudonana revealed the predominance of monounsaturated acids (palmitoleic-16:1 and oleic-18:1) and a decrease of the saturated myristic acid-14:0 and polyunsaturated fatty acids under high CO.sub.2 levels. These results suggested that T. pseudonana seems to be an ideal candidate for biodiesel production using flue gases.