Author(s)

Yongxue Chi^1*, Feng Chen², Yasuyuki Takiguchi¹

¹Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Engineering, Chiba Institute of Technology, Chiba, Japan.
²Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Baltimore, MD, USA.

The effects of the nitrogen sources sodium nitrate (NaNO₃) and urea (CH₄N₂O) on growth, lipid production, and fatty acid composition of Nannochloropsis oceanica IMET1 were investigated. Nitrogen source affected cell density, dry cell weight, and lipid production. Cells grown in the nitrate medium increased dry cell weight and lipid weight in comparison with cells grown in the urea medium. The composition of fatty acids varied with nitrogen sources. IMET1cultured in the nitrate medium mainly contained C18:2 (14.9%) and C16:0 (6.3%) fatty acids, while IMET1 in the urea medium mainly contained C22:0 (33.1%), C18:3 (8.6%), and C16:0 (6.8%). This study demonstrates that nitrogen source can strongly influence lipid production and composition of N. oceanica IMET1.

Nannochloropsis oceanica, Nitrogen Source, Lipid Production, Growth Performance, Fatty Acid Composition

Chi, Y. , Chen, F. and Takiguchi, Y. (2015) Effect of Nitrogen Source on Biomass and Lipid Production of a Marine Microalga, Nannochloropsis oceanica IMET1. Green and Sustainable Chemistry, 5, 101-106. doi: 10.4236/gsc.2015.52013.