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Inhibition of the growth of the red microalga porphyridium sp. by limitation of nutrient transfer
Author(s) -
Rotem Avi,
Merchuk Jose C.,
Arad Shoshana Malis
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.280550310
Subject(s) - polysaccharide , photosynthesis , phosphate , bicarbonate , nutrient , chemistry , potassium , food science , growth rate , algae , botany , nitrate , biochemistry , biology , organic chemistry , geometry , mathematics
The unicellular red alga Porphyridium sp. was cultured in a medium to which increasing concentrations of its cell wall polysaccharide were added. As the polysaccharide concentration in the culture medium increased, algal growth rate and maximum cell number progressively decreased. In a different series of experiments it was shown that the polysaccharide also inhibited the rate of carbon uptake by the cells and as a result photosynthesis was also inhibited. In‐vitro experiments showed that the mass transfer coefficient for nitrate, bicarbonate, phosphate and potassium decreased as the polysaccharide concentration increased. The data indicate that the polysaccharide inhibits nutrient transfer from the medium to the cells, resulting in a reduction of the growth rate.