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Light Intensity Improves Growth, Lipid Productivity, and Fatty Acid Profile of Chlorococcum oleofaciens (Chlorophyceae) for Biodiesel Production

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Abstract

The present study was aimed to consider the effect of light intensity on the growth and lipid accumulation properties of a freshwater microalga Chlorococcum oleofaciens KF584224.1. The microalga was cultivated at five different light intensities of 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 μmol photons m−2 s−1 for 20 days. The culture curves illustrated the fastest growth rate for microalgae illuminated with 200 μmol photons m−2 s−1, while the longest exponential growth curve was obtained in culture illuminated with 400 μmol photons m−2 s−1. Once algae reached the stationary phase, the maximum biomass productivity (367.82 ± 21.63 mg L−1 day−1) was found in culture illuminated with 200 μmol photons m−2 s−1, while the highest lipid content (59.18 ± 1.62%) and lipid productivity (126.72 ± 3.27 mg L−1 day−1) were achieved in culture illuminated with 400 μmol photons m−2 s−1. The ratio of saturated fatty acids significantly increased with enhancing light illumination, while the ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids tend to decline (p < 0.05). The properties of biodiesel obtained from C. oleofaciens cultured under 50 μmol photons m−2 s−1 met the specifications provided by the international biodiesel standards (European EN 14214 and US ASTM D6751), higher light illumination improved the biodiesel quality. Findings of the present study demonstrated that light intensity could improve the lipid productivity and biodiesel properties obtained from C. oleofaciens as a potential feedstock for biofuel production, especially under 400 μmol photons m−2 s−1 light intensity.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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  • 01 September 2020

    The original version of this article unfortunately contained incorrect data in Fig. 2 caption.

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  1. Department of Fisheries, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, P.O. Box: 14515-775, Tehran, Iran

    Marzie Rayati, Houman Rajabi Islami & Mehdi Shamsaie Mehrgan

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  1. Marzie Rayati
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Houman Rajabi Islami; alga purification and identification: Houman Rajabi Islami; formal analysis and investigation: Marzie Rayati and Mehdi Shamsaie; writing of the first draft of the manuscript: Marzie Rayati; writing of the final version of the manuscript: Houman Rajabi Islami; supervision: Houman Rajabi Islami. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Houman Rajabi Islami.

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All the protocols and procedures employed in the current experiment were performed according to the standard guidelines for the care and use of experimental organisms by Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, and have been approved by the committee on ethics matched biomedical researchers.

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The original version of this article was revised: Incorrect data in Fig. 2 caption.

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Rayati, M., Rajabi Islami, H. & Shamsaie Mehrgan, M. Light Intensity Improves Growth, Lipid Productivity, and Fatty Acid Profile of Chlorococcum oleofaciens (Chlorophyceae) for Biodiesel Production. Bioenerg. Res. 13, 1235–1245 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-020-10144-5

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