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Biotechnol Lett (2008) 30:17411746 DOI 10.1007/s10529-008-9753-y
ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER
Growth kinetics of 12 mm and 34 mm coloniesof Nostoc sphaeroides (Cyanophyta) in outdoor culture
Zhongyang Deng Chunlan Yan Fan Lu Qiang Hu Zhengyu Hu
Received: 29 February 2008 / Revised: 15 May 2008 / Accepted: 27 May 2008 / Published online: 26 July 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008
Abstract Nostoc sphaeroides Ktzing was cultivated in paddlewheel-driven raceway ponds and the growth kinetics of 12 mm and 34 mm colonies ofN. sphaeroides was studied. The biomass productivities in 2.5 m2 raceway ponds inoculated with 12 mm and 34 mm colonies were 5.2 and 0.25 g dry wt m-2 d-1, respectively. Furthermore, differently sized colonies showed different relative water content, total soluble carbohydrates, chlorophyll a content and density of laments. This is the rst
report on mass culture of N. sphaeroides under outdoor conditions.
Keywords Biomass productivity
Cyanobacterium Nostoc sphaeroides
Outdoor cultivation Raceway pond
Introduction
Nostoc sphaeroides Ktzing has been utilized as a potent herbal medicine and dietary supplement for 1,600 years (Li and Gao 2004; Potts 2000; Qiu et al. 2002). It contains a broad range of compounds which have anti-microbial, anti-viral, anti-tumour and anti-cancer activities (Huang et al. 1998; Park et al. 2008; Rasmussen et al. 2008). Indeed because of its importance it was selected as a model species to study in the controlled ecological life support system (CELSS) in SHENZHOU-2 spacecraft in China (Wang et al. 2004).N. sphaeroides predominantly lives in rice elds of Hefeng County (China), where it initiates in November and forms visible colonies ranging from 5 to 20 mm in diameter by the following February (Li and Gao 2004; Potts 2000; Qiu et al. 2002). The price of N. sphaeroides is currently about $70120 kg dry wt-1 (Qiu et al. 2002). However, the annual yield has been reduced to0.5 ton from the maximum annual yield of 25 tons during the past decade due to human inuences (Qiu et al. 2002). Therefore, it is of commercial
Z. Deng C. Yan Z. Hu (&)
State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecologyand Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, Peoples Republic of Chinae-mail: [email protected]
Z. Deng F. Lu
Algaen Corporation, 925 West Northwest Blvd., Winston-Salem, NC 27101, USA
Z. DengDepartment of...