A new strain of green carotenogenic microalgae, Coelastrella rubescens, is promising for cultivation in the climatic conditions of Southern Russia
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Abstract
For the first time, Chlorophyta carotenogenic algae Coelastrella Chodat (Scenedesmaceae, Sphaeropleales) was isolated into pure culture from an epilithic lichen collected near Sevastopol in Crimea in March 2014.The algal culture exhibited a remarkable ability to accumulate secondary carotenoids during acute abiotic stress conditions. The process of extracting phycobionts from small samples of lichens, obtaining axenic cultures, and adapting algae to laboratory conditions has been outlined. The taxonomic identification of the phycobiont was carried out using morphological (light and scanning electron microscopy) and molecular genetic methods (analysis of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 fragment of the 18S rRNA gene region), which allowed us to include the new strain in the IBSS collection of living cultures of carotenogenic microalgae – IBSS-156 Coelastrella rubescens (Vinatzer) Kaufnerová & Eliás 2013 (https://algae.ibss-ras.ru). An evaluation of the production trait of the strain was conducted under two-stage culture system. The data obtained indicate high specific growth rates (up to 0.62 ± 0.11 days-1) of the culture during the vegetative stage. The dynamics of pigment composition in algae under complex stress indicate the accumulation of secondary carotenoids. It has been first demonstrated that recording the absorption spectra of live microalgal cultures in the visible range is a useful method for quickly assessing their condition and the rate of secondary carotenoid accumulation in biomass during two-stage cultivation. The obtained results indicate the possibility of identifying promising producers of astaxantin from Crimean lichens, which can be suggested for mass cultivation in areas with arid and hot climates, including Crimea and adjacent regions of southern Russia.