Chlorella mirabilis as a Potential Species for Biomass Production in Low-Temperature Environment

Successful adaptation/acclimatization to low temperatures in micro-algae is usually connected with production of specific biotechnologically important compounds. In this study, we evaluated the growth characteristics in a micro-scale mass cultivation of the Antarctic soil green alga Chlorella mirabilis under different nitrogen and carbon sources followed by analyses of fatty acid contents. The micro-scale mass cultivation was performed in stable (in-door) and variable (out-door) conditions during winter and/or early spring in the Czech Republic. In the in-door cultivation, the treatments for nitrogen and carbon sources determination included pure Z medium (control, Z), Z medium + 5% glycerol (ZG), Z medium + 5% glycerol + 50 μM KNO(3) (ZGN), Z medium + 5% glycerol + 200 μM NH(4)Cl (ZGA), Z medium + 5% glycerol + 1 mM Na(2)CO(3) (ZNC), Z medium + 5% glycerol + 1 mM Na(2)CO(3) + 200 μM NH(4)Cl (ZGCA) and Z medium + 5% glycerol + 1 mM Na(2)CO(3) + 50 μM KNO(3) (ZGCN) and were performed at 15°C with an irradiance of 75 μmol m(−2) s(−1). During the out-door experiments, the night-day temperature ranged from −6.6 to 17.5°C (daily average 3.1 ± 5.3°C) and irradiance ranged from 0 to 2,300 μmol m(−2) s(−1) (daily average 1,500 ± 1,090 μmol m(−2) s(−1)). Only the Z, ZG, ZGN, and ZGC treatments were used in the out-door cultivation. In the in-door mass cultivation, all nitrogen and carbon sources additions increased the growth rate with the exception of ZGA. When individual sources were considered, only the effect of 5% glycerol addition was significant. On the other hand, the growth rate decreased in the ZG and ZGN treatments in the out-door experiment, probably due to carbon limitation. Fatty acid composition showed increased production of linoleic acid in the glycerol treatments. The studied strain of C. mirabilis is proposed to be a promising source of linoleic acid in low-temperature-mass cultivation biotechnology. This strain is a perspective model organism for biotechnology in low-temperature conditions.