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Photobiochemical changes in Chlorella g120 culture during trophic conversion (metabolic pathway shift) from heterotrophic to phototrophic growth regime

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Abstract

Physiological and photobiochemical changes and growth in the heterotrophic strain Chlorella vulgaris g120 were studied during trophic conversion from heterotrophic to phototrophic growth regime. After the exposure of the Chlorella g120 culture to light, it revealed a significant activity of the electron transport (450–700 μmol e− m−2 s−1 as measured by chlorophyll fluorescence) and high PSII photochemical yield Fv/Fm between 0.7 and 0.8. Fast fluorescence induction kinetics showed that PSII electron acceptors in the plastoquinone pool remained partly oxidized, indicating no downregulation of PSII electron transport. The data further revealed that high photobiochemical activity is lost in futile (protective) processes of non-photochemical quenching and respiration which indicate that surplus energy is dissipated in these processes. Pigment analysis showed low chlorophyll content − 0.35–1.15% as compared with exclusively phototrophic strain Chlorella vulgaris R-117. Nevertheless, the carotenoid content in g120 was relatively high − 0.20–0.33% of dry weight which resulted in a considerably high ratio of carotenoid/chlorophyll − 0.31–0.44. This strain probably does not possess the fully competent photosynthetic apparatus and can only partially adapt to phototrophy. We show that the heterotrophically grown g120 strain can undergo metabolic shift from heterotrophic to phototrophic growth regime. It might be an interesting strain from biotechnological point of view as a source of carotenoids, especially lutein.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ms Soňa Pekařová, Mr Jan Hinterholzinger and Mr Stanislav Pumpr for technical assistance.

Funding

Majority of trials were carried out in the framework of the bilateral scientific agreement between the Czech Academy of Sciences and National Council of Research of Italy (reg. no. CNR-16-29). The research was also funded by the EU programme Horizon 2020, project SABANA (grant no.727874) and in part by the National Sustainability Programme of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (project Algatech Plus LO1416) The stay ofA.B. in the Czech Republic was supported by stipend from the Iran National Science Foundation (INSF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Algal Biotechnology, Centre ALGATECH, Institute of Microbiology AV ČR, Třeboň, Czech Republic

    Azadeh Babaei, Karolína Ranglová, Jose R. Malapascua & Jiří Masojídek

  2. Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Azadeh Babaei & Jalal Shayegan

  3. Faculty of Agriculture, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Karolína Ranglová

  4. Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Jose R. Malapascua & Jiří Masojídek

  5. Istituto per la Bioeconomia del CNR, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

    Giuseppe Torzillo

  6. Escuela de Biologia, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, San Josè, 2060, Costa Rica

    Ana M. Silva Benavides

  7. Centro de Investigation en Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia (CIMAR), Ciudad de la Investigation, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, San Josè, 2060, Costa Rica

    Ana M. Silva Benavides

Authors
  1. Azadeh Babaei
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  2. Karolína Ranglová
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  3. Jose R. Malapascua
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  4. Giuseppe Torzillo
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  5. Jalal Shayegan
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  6. Ana M. Silva Benavides
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  7. Jiří Masojídek
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Cultivation of microalgae, measurements, data collection and sample analysis were performed by Azadeh Babaei, Karolína Ranglová, Jose R. Malapascua, Giuseppe Torzillo, Ana M. Silva Benavides and Jiří Masojídek. The draft of the manuscript and figures were prepared by Azadeh Babaei and Jalal Shayegan. The authors commented and contributed on all versions; they read and approved the final manuscript. Jiří Masojídek prepared a concept of experiments and revised and finalized the manuscript as corresponding author.

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Correspondence to Jiří Masojídek.

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Babaei, A., Ranglová, K., Malapascua, J.R. et al. Photobiochemical changes in Chlorella g120 culture during trophic conversion (metabolic pathway shift) from heterotrophic to phototrophic growth regime. J Appl Phycol 32, 2807–2818 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-020-02137-w

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