BACKGROUND Microalgae are a promising platform for producing neutral lipids, to be used in the application for biofuels or commodities in the feed and food industry. A very promising candidate is the oleaginous green microalga Scenedesmus obliquus, because it accumulates up to 45% w/w triacylglycerol (TAG) under nitrogen starvation. Under these conditions, starch is accumulated as well. Starch ...

The green microalga Apatococcus constipatus was investigated for its fatty acid composition using GC and MS techniques. Considerable variations were found in individual fatty acid contents according to the stage of culture development. A set of saturated fatty acid homologues was distinguished as the main component regardless of the culture age. The occurrence of some uncommon fatty acids in mi...

Chlorella vulgaris, a microalga often used in wastewater treatment, was coimmobilized and coincubated either with the plant growth-promoting bacterium Azospirillum brasilense, or with its natural associative bacterium Phyllobacterium myrsinacearum, in alginate beads designed for advanced wastewater treatment. Interactions between the microalga and each of the bacterial species were followed usi...

An indigenous microalga was isolated from the springs in Cuatro Ciénegas, México. It was morphologically identified as Scenedesmus obtusiusculus and cultivated in bubble-column photobioreactors in batch operation mode. This microalga grows at 10% of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) showing a maximum CO(2) fixation rate of 970gm(-3)d(-1). The microalga, without any nutrient limitation, contained 20% of no...

A parasite was found in cultures of the green microalga Haematococcus pluvialis that grew epibiotically on algal cells and caused epidemics resulting in damage to the host cultures. The parasite was isolated into axenic culture on solid and liquid media. It was demonstrated to be the sole causative agent of the epidemics. According to its life cycle and phylogenetic analysis based on 18S riboso...

We demonstrated a microwell array-based microfluidic system, allowing in situ analysis of the lipid content of individual microalgal cells in alginate hydrogel microcapsules. Alginate hydrogel microcapsules with a mean diameter of 26 μm, which encapsulate a single microalga stained with nondestructive lipophilic green fluorescent dye, BODIPY 505/515, were successfully docked inside the microwel...

Green microalgae contain many active pigments such as carotenoids having antioxidant and protective activity on human cells. Here we investigate the biological activity of an ethanol/water extract of the marine green microalga Tetraselmis suecica containing high levels of carotenoids such as the xanthophylls lutein, violaxanthin, neoxanthin, antheraxanthin and loroxanthin esters. This extract h...