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Isolation and characterization of an indigenous isolate of Dunaliella sp. for β‐carotene and glycerol production from a hypersaline lake in India
Author(s) -
Phadwal Kanchan,
Singh P. K.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of basic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.58
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1521-4028
pISSN - 0233-111X
DOI - 10.1002/jobm.200310271
Subject(s) - dunaliella , dunaliella salina , glycerol , brine , halophile , salinity , salt marsh , carotenoid , chlorophyll a , beta carotene , botany , seawater , light intensity , chemistry , algae , biology , food science , ecology , biochemistry , bacteria , genetics , organic chemistry , physics , optics
Dunaliella, a green alga grows in a wide range of marine and freshwater habitats such as oceans, brine lakes, salt marshes and salt‐water ditches near the sea, predominantly in water bodies containing more than 10% salt. Sambhar salt lake, Rajasthan (India) was found as one of the natural habitat of Dunaliella sp. The species was isolated and screened for accumulation of β‐carotene and glycerol. It was studied for the growth attributes like total protein, optical density, total chlorophyll, total carotenoid, β‐carotene and glycerol. Under unstressed physico‐chemical conditions the maximum β‐carotene and glycerol observed was 1.15 pg/cell and 94.26 pg/cell respectively. The stress (salt stress (NaCl), high light intensities and continuous light) allowed the alga to accumulate high β‐carotene (approximately 4.21 pg/cell under 118.18 μmole m −2 s −1 of light intensity) without massive reduction in biomass content. This opens up new avenues for exploring this strain for future research and its commercial exploitation.