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RESEARCH PAPER
Strategies for enhancing valuable metabolites produced by the soil microalga
1
Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Doświadczalna 4, 20-290 Lublin, Poland
Final revision date: 2025-08-26
Acceptance date: 2025-09-02
Publication date: 2025-09-15
Corresponding author
Izabela Krzemińska
Laboratory of Microalgal Biotechnology, Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
Laboratory of Microalgal Biotechnology, Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
Int. Agrophys. 2025, 39(4): 505-516
HIGHLIGHTS
- Photosynthetic activity of the soil microalga V. calaminaris
- Effects of IAA and nitrogen deficiency under high light were investigated
- High content of oleic and palmitoleic acids observed inV. calaminaris cells
- V. calaminaris is a promising strain for microalgal fatty acid production
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The current knowledge of metabolite accumulation by soil microalgae is not fully recognised. This study provides insights into the production of bio-products and the photosynthetic activity of the soil alga Vischeria calaminaris.The cell response to environmental abiotic factors, nitrogen limitation and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) supplementation under high light intensity to induce the accumulation of high-value metabolites was investigated. The addition of IAA improved cell growth only in the nitrogen-limited treatments. In the nitrogen-limited conditions, the maximum photochemical quenching of PS II decreased over the cultivation period. Additionally, IAA regulated nonphotochemical quenching in the nitrogen-limited treatment, showing an enhanced capacity to actively dissipate excess light energy in low-nitrogen growth conditions. In response to the nitrogen stress, the protein content of the V. calaminaris decreased and increased in the IAA supplemented cultures. The results showed that IAA significantly stimulated the content of Chl a and carotenoids in both nitrogen treatments tested. The highest lipid content was obtained in the nitrogen-limited variant supplemented with IAA. The lipidomic analysis revealed high content of oleic and palmitoleic acids in V. calaminaris. The IAA supplementation in the low-nitrogen growth conditions was suitable for accumulation of high-value monounsaturated fatty acids for biofuel production from V. calminaris biomass.
FUNDING
This work was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, grant number 2016/23/D/NZ9/02670.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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