Effect of Nitrogen Limitation on the Growth and Lipid Composition of the Green Alga Botryococcus braunii Kutz IPPAS H-252

The effect of nitrogen limitation in a medium on the composition of intracellular lipids in the alga Botryococcus braunii Kutz IPPAS H-252 in the course of culture development was investigated. Under the conditions of nitrogen limitation, the alga under investigation accumulated lipids as triacylglycerols, and this process was accompanied by substantial changes in the total fatty acid (FA) composition, which were manifested in a decrease in trienoic acids (from 52.8–57.2 to 19.5–24.7% of total FAs) and an increase in the content of oleic (from 1.1–1.2 to 17.1–24.4%) and saturated (from 23.7–26.0 to 32.9–46.1%) acids. In the control culture, the directionality of FA redistribution was less marked, and these changes were noticed at the later stages of culture development. Under nitrogen limitation, marked changes in the FA composition of polar lipids occurred by the 13th day, and they were characterized by an increase in the content of saturated acids (up to 76.8%) and a dramatic decrease in the content of all polyenoic acids (up to 6.8%). The changes in the FA composition of triacylglycerols were noticed as early as by the 7th day; these changes consisted in an increase in the content of oleic acid, and its high content (28.4–38.4%) was maintained up to the end of culturing. In the control culture, triacylglycerols with a high content of oleic acid were found by the 13th day, although, by this time, the content of total lipids and triacylglycerols did not change.__________Translated from Fiziologiya Rastenii, Vol. 52, No. 3, 2005, pp. 357–365.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Zhila, Kalacheva, Volova.