RESEARCH ARTICLE
Improved Protocol for the Preparation of Axenic Culture and Adaptation to Heterotrophic Cultivation
Mojtaba Azma1, Rosfarizan Mohamad1, Raha Abdul Rahim2, Arbakariya B. Ariff*, 1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2010Volume: 4
First Page: 36
Last Page: 46
Publisher ID: TOBIOTJ-4-36
DOI: 10.2174/1874070701004010036
Article History:
Received Date: 14/01/2010Revision Received Date: 12/04/2010
Acceptance Date: 16/04/2010
Electronic publication date: 8/7/2010
Collection year: 2010
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The effectiveness of various physical and chemical methods for the removal of contaminants from the microalgae, Tetraselmis suecica, culture was investigated. The information obtained was used as the basis for the development of improved protocol for the preparation of axenic culture to be adapted to heterotrophic cultivation. Repeated centrifugation and rinsing effectively removed the free bacterial contaminants from the microalgae culture while sonication helped to loosen up the tightly attached bacterial contaminants on the microalgae cells. Removal of bacterial spores was accomplished using a mixture of two antibiotics, 5 mg/mL vancomycine and 10 mg/mL neomycine. Walne medium formulation with natural seawater was preferred for the enhancement of growth of T. suecica. Adaptation of growth from photoautotrophic to heterotrophic conditions was achieved by the repeated cultivation of photoautotrophic culture with sequential reduction in illumination time, and finally the culture was inoculated into the medium containing 10 g/L glucose, incubated in total darkness to obtain heterotrophic cells. Changes in the morphology and composition of T. suecica cells during the adaptation from photoautotrophic to heterotrophic condition, as examined under Transmission Electron Microscope, were also reported.