Biochemical Biomarkers in the Halophilic Nanophytoplankton: Dunaliella salina Isolated from the Saline of Sfax (Tunisia)

• Published in: Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering 2016, Vol.41 (1), p.17-24
• Main Authors: Belghith, Taheni, Athmouni, Khaled, Elloumi, Jannet, Guermazi, Wassim, Stoeck, Thorsten, Ayadi, Habib
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biochemistry; Biomarkers; Carbohydrates; Density; Dunaliella; Dunaliella salina; Engineering; Fatty acids; Humanities and Social Sciences; Lipids; multidisciplinary; Photons; Research Article - Biological Sciences; Salina; Saline; Science
• ISSN: 1319-8025; 2191-4281
• DOI: 10.1007/s13369-015-1808-5

The purpose of the present work was to study the potential biotechnological use of Dunaliella species isolated from the solar saltern of Sfax (Tunisia). D. salina was grown in artificial seawater (3.4M NaCl) under a constant temperature (25°C) and light ( 265 μ mol photons m - 2 s - 1 ). The maximal cellular density was about 4.66 × 10 6 cells / ml , and the growth rate ranged between 0.13 and 0.16 doublings/day. Chlorophyll a reached 52.32 ± 0.12 mg / l in the exponential phase. Protein and carbohydrates content reached maximum values in the lag phase ( 52.4 ± 0.2 and 5.7 ± 0.34 mg / l , respectively). The maximal values of total lipids content were obtained at the decline phase ( 92 ± 0.87 mg / l ). In addition, during this study, the analyses of the fatty acids profile have shown the presence of essential fatty acids that accumulate in D. salina during the stress phase.