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Changes in biomass, photosynthetic efficiency, and total lipid content of Nannochloropsis oculata in response to metabolic intermediates and antioxidant

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Abstract

To study the effects of exogenous metabolic intermediates and antioxidant on Nannochloropsis oculata microalgae strain, the growth performance, biomass productivity, photosynthetic efficiency, and total lipid content were investigated by lab-scale cultivation experiments. Specifically, N. oculata was cultured in f/2 medium supplemented with different concentrations of citric acid or malic acid (0.050, 0.150, 0.750 g L−1) and KI (0.025, 0.050, 0.100, and 0.500 g L−1) to examine the physiological and biochemical effects on the widely distributed marine algae N. oculata. Results showed that the biomass and photosynthetic efficiency showed a downward trend with increasing citric acid and malic acid concentrations, and the low concentrations of metabolic intermediate treatments could enhance the lipid accumulation. The highest lipid content (0.295 or 0.245 g total lipid per gram of dry biomass) was found in cells treated with 0.15 g L-1 of citric acid and malic acid, which was about 28.45% and 6.99% higher than that growing in the culture lacking metabolic intermediates. Compared with malic acid, citric acid had better effect. Furthermore, potassium iodide (KI), an antioxidant, could also boost the lipid content of N. oculata with slight declining biomass productivity, and the highest lipid content (0.300 g total lipid per gram of dry biomass) was found in cells treated with 0.100 g L-1 of KI, which was about 28.08% higher than that growing in the culture lacking KI, indicating that KI may be a potential factor to increase the lipid content of algae cells. These findings not only provide insight into the response mechanism of N. oculata to exogenous metabolic intermediates and antioxidant but also help further broaden the key regulatory factors involved in the lipid accumulation within algal cells.

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Abbreviations

OD680 :

Optical density 680 nm

Fv/Fm:

Maximum fluorescence

PSII:

Photosystem II

W k :

The damage degree of the donor side of PSII reaction center under exogenous stress

ABS/RC:

Absorption flux per reaction center

DIo/RC:

Dissipated energy flux per reaction center

ETo/RC:

Electron transport per reaction center

TRo/RC:

Trapped energy flux per reaction center

ETo/ABS:

Quantum yield for electron transport

ETo/TRo:

The probability that a trapped exciton moves an electron into the electron transport chain beyond QA

Mo:

The rate at which QA is reduced

Sm:

Normalized total complementary area above the O-J-I-P curve

V J :

Relative variable fluorescence intensity at the J-step

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Acknowledgements

Jie Cheng wants to thank, in particular, for the patience, care, and support received from Xiongyan Du over the years. Our deepest gratitude goes to the editors and anonymous reviewers for their careful work and thoughtful suggestions that have helped improve this paper substantially. This paper is a gift to the centenary celebration of Xiamen University to be held on April 6, 2021.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, 361102, Xiamen, China

    Jie Cheng, Wenxin Fan & Linggang Zheng

  2. Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 518055, Shenzhen, China

    Linggang Zheng

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  1. Jie Cheng
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  2. Wenxin Fan
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Contributions

Jie Cheng conceived and designed the project. Jie Cheng and Linggang Zheng performed the experiment and analyzed the data. Wenxin Fan assisted with the data collection and performed constructive discussions. Jie Cheng wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jie Cheng or Linggang Zheng.

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Highlight

• Changes in biomass, photosynthetic efficiency, and total lipid content of N. oculata in response to metabolic intermediates and antioxidant were investigated.

• The biomass and photosynthetic efficiency showed a downward trend with increasing citric acid and malic acid concentrations.

• The low concentrations of metabolic intermediate treatments could enhance the lipid accumulation.

• Potassium iodide could also boost the lipid content of N. oculata with slight declining biomass.

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Cheng, J., Fan, W. & Zheng, L. Changes in biomass, photosynthetic efficiency, and total lipid content of Nannochloropsis oculata in response to metabolic intermediates and antioxidant. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 13, 5035–5042 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01485-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01485-y

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