Accumulation of Astaxanthin by a New Haematococcus pluvialis Strain BM1 from the White Sea Coastal Rocks (Russia)

Marine Drugs

Konstantin Chekanov²  Elena Lobakova²  Irina Selyakh²  Larisa Semenova²  Roman Sidorov¹ 

[1] Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 35, Botanicheskaya str., Moscow 127276, Russia; E-Mail:;Biological Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University, 1/12 Leninskie Gori, Moscow 119234, Russia; E-Mails:

关键词: astaxanthin;    carotenogenesis;    fatty acids;    green microalgae;   

DOI  :  10.3390/md12084504

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

We report on a novel arctic strain BM1 of a carotenogenic chlorophyte from a coastal habitat with harsh environmental conditions (wide variations in solar irradiance, temperature, salinity and nutrient availability) identified as Haematococcus pluvialis Flotow. Increased (25‰) salinity exerted no adverse effect on the growth of the green BM1 cells. Under stressful conditions (high light, nitrogen and phosphorus deprivation), green vegetative cells of H. pluvialis BM1 grown in BG11 medium formed non-motile palmelloid cells and, eventually, hematocysts capable of a massive accumulation of the keto-carotenoid astaxanthin with a high nutraceutical and therapeutic potential. Routinely, astaxanthin was accumulated at the level of 4% of the cell dry weight (DW), reaching, under prolonged stress, 5.5% DW. Astaxanthin was predominantly accumulated in the form of mono- and diesters of fatty acids from C16 and C18 families. The palmelloids and hematocysts were characterized by the formation of red-colored cytoplasmic lipid droplets, increasingly large in size and number. The lipid droplets tended to merge and occupied almost the entire volume of the cell at the advanced stages of stress-induced carotenogenesis. The potential application of the new strain for the production of astaxanthin is discussed in comparison with the H. pluvialis strains currently employed in microalgal biotechnology.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.