Data on the cultivation of Prochloron sp. at different salinity levels

The data in this article describe the population growth of Prochloron cells outside the hosts at the different salinity levels. The cultivation was performed in enriched standard culture media with continuous photoperiod. The culture stock of Prochloron cells which was made as inoculum (starter) in the laboratory was isolated from tunics of an ascidian Lissoclinum patella. The ascidian was obtained from 20 m depth at Malalayang coastal water in Manado Bay, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The initial stock was kept in 20 ppt liquid medium. Then the cells were transferred into culture chambers, each prepared with different salinities: 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45 ppt. After the cells reached exponential phase, some drops of cell suspension were transferred into agar media with the same salinity level until the green colony appeared. Each of the colonies was transferred again into liquid media with the same salinity. Population growth was observed until the death phase. The results of the study show that: (1) the growth of Prochloron cells at different salinity showed a different growth rate; (2) Prochloron cells grew well in salinity of 15 and 35 ppt; (3) the maximum population growth of Prochloron from each treatment varied. Prochloron cells grown in a medium with 35 ppt salinity had a rapid adaptability to the new culture environment. However, the maximum population growth was reached on the 75th day with a cell density of 31.00 × 10(6) cells/ml in a medium with 15 ppt salinity, much higher than those of the other treatments (20, 25, 30, 35 and 45 ppt). The data presented here are the success of the cultivation of Prochloron cells outside the host.