Growth and lipid accumulation by different nutrients in the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

BACKGROUND: Individual nutrient depletion is widely used to induce lipid accumulation in microalgae, which also causes cell growth inhibition and decreases the total biomass. Thus, improving the lipid accumulation without biomass loss in the nutrient deficiency cells becomes a potential cost-effective treatment for cheaper biofuels. METHODS: In this study, the effects of different nutritional conditions on the growth and contents of lipids in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii were compared, and the metabolic profiles under different nutritional conditions were also investigated. RESULTS: We showed that similar to other microalgae, nitrogen or phosphorus deficiency inhibited the growth of Chlamydomonas and combined nutrition deficiency reduced biomass by up to 31.7%, though lipid contents in cells (g/g dry weight [DW]) were significantly increased. The addition of sodium acetate countered this growth inhibition that resulted from nitrogen and phosphorus deficiency, with significantly increased biomass. Furthermore, the combination of 4 g/L sodium acetate supplementation with nitrogen and phosphorous deficiency increased total fatty acid yield (mg/L) by 93.0 and 150.1% compared to nutrient-depleted and normal culture conditions, respectively. Metabolite content was affected by the different nutritional conditions, especially metabolites that are involved in lipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism and metabolism of external substances. CONCLUSION: Further research into these metabolites could shed light onto the relationship between cell growth inhibition and fatty acid accumulation in Chlamydomonas. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13068-018-1041-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.