• ALGAE
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.175-183
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• 2022

Polar microorganisms produce physiologically active substances to adapt to harsh environments, and these substances can be used as biomedical compounds. The green microalga Micractinium variabile KSF0031, which was isolated from Antarctica, produced phytol, a natural antimicrobial agent. Furthermore, several polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), including omega-3, exhibit antioxidant properties. Here statistical methods (Plackett-Burman design and Box-Behnken design) were used to optimize the culture medium of KSF0031 to improve biomass production, and K₂HPO₄, MgSO₄·7H ₂O, and ammonium ferric citrate green (AFCg) were selected as significant components of the culture medium. Changes in the concentration of K₂HPO₄ and MgSO₄·7H ₂O as positive factors and AFCg as a negative factor affected cell growth to a remarkable degree. The biomass production in a 100 L culture using the optimized medium for 24 d at 18℃ was improved by 37.5% compared to that obtained using the original BG-11 medium. The quantities of PUFAs and phytol obtained were 13 mg g^-1 dry cell weight (DCW) and 10.98 mg g^-1 DCW, which represent improved yields of 11.70% and 48.78%, respectively. The results of this study could contribute to an improved production of phytol and fatty acids from Antarctic microalgae in the biomedical industry.

• ALGAE
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.267-275
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• 2019

Three new species of the genus Micractinium were collected from five localities on the South Shetland Islands in maritime Antarctica, and their morphological and molecular characteristics were investigated. The vegetative cells are spherical to ellipsoidal and a single chloroplast is parietal with a pyrenoid. Because of their simple morphology, no conspicuous morphological characters of new species were recognized under light microscopy. However, molecular phylogenetic relationships were inferred from the concatenated small subunit rDNA, and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence data indicated that the Antarctic microalgal strains are strongly allied to the well-supported genus Micractinium, including M. pusillum, the type species of the genus, and three other species in the genus. The secondary structure of ITS2 and compensatory base changes were used to identify and describe six Antarctic Micractinium strains. Based on their morphological and molecular characteristics, we characterized three new species of Micractinium: M. simplicissimum sp. nov., M. singularis sp. nov., and M. variabile sp. nov.