Fixing N(2) into cyanophycin: continuous cultivation of Nostoc sp. PCC 7120

ABSTRACT: Two diazotrophic cyanobacteria (Anabaena cylindrica PCC 7122 and Nostoc sp. PCC 7120) were cultivated to produce cyanophycin, a nitrogen reserve compound, under nitrogen fixing conditions. In preliminary continuous experiments, Nostoc sp. was shown to be more efficient, accumulating a higher amount of cyanophycin and showing a greater capability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the biomass (67 mg(N) d(−1) of fixed nitrogen per liter of culture). The operating conditions were then optimized to maximize the cyanophycin productivity: the effect of incident light intensity, residence time and nitrogen availability were investigated. Nitrogen availability and/or pH played a major role with respect to biomass production, whereas phosphorus limitation was the main variable to maximize cyanophycin accumulation. In this way, it was possible to achieve a stable and continuous production of cyanophycin (CGP) under diazotrophic conditions, obtaining a maximum cyanophycin productivity of 15 mg(CGP) L(−1) d(−1). KEY POINTS: • Diazotrophic cyanobacteria produce stable amount of cyanophycin in continuous PBR. • Nostoc sp. proved to be more efficient in producing cyanophycin than Anabaena sp. • P deprivation is the major variable to increase cyanophycin productivity in continuous. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00253-022-12292-4.