Desiccation tolerance of Botryococcus braunii (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta) and extreme temperature tolerance of dehydrated cells

Botryococcus braunii Kützing, a green colonial microalga, occurs worldwide in both freshwater and brackish water environments. Despite considerable attention to B. braunii as a potential source of renewable fuel, many ecophysiological properties of this alga remain unknown. Here, we examined the des...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied phycology 2014-02, Vol.26 (1), p.49-53
Main Authors: Demura, Mikihide, Ioki, Motohide, Kawachi, Masanobu, Nakajima, Nobuyoshi, Watanabe, Makoto M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Botryococcus
Botryococcus braunii
Brackish
Brackish water
Chlorophyta
Desiccation
Ecology
Freezing
freshwater
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
fuels
High temperature
hydrocarbons
Life Sciences
microalgae
Plant Physiology
Plant Sciences
polysaccharides
Renewable fuels
Saccharides
temperature
Trebouxiophyceae
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Botryococcus braunii Kützing, a green colonial microalga, occurs worldwide in both freshwater and brackish water environments. Despite considerable attention to B. braunii as a potential source of renewable fuel, many ecophysiological properties of this alga remain unknown. Here, we examined the desiccation and temperature tolerances of B. braunii using two newly isolated strains BOD-NG17 and BOD-GJ2. Both strains survived through 6- and 8-month desiccation treatments but not through a 12-month treatment. Interestingly, the desiccation-treated cells of B. braunii gained tolerance to extreme temperature shifts, i.e., high temperature (40 °C) and freezing (−20 °C). Both strains survived for at least 4 and 10 days at 40 and −20 °C, respectively, while the untreated cells barely survived at these temperatures. These traits would enable long-distance dispersal of B. braunii cells and may account for the worldwide distribution of this algal species. Extracellular substances such as polysaccharides and hydrocarbons seem to confer the desiccation tolerance.
ISSN:0921-8971
1573-5176
DOI:10.1007/s10811-013-0059-7