Nitrogen or phosphorus repletion strategies for enhancing lipid or carotenoid production from Tetraselmis marina.

The objective of this study was to investigate the accumulation of lipid and photosynthetic pigments from Tetraselmis marina. When the cells were grown in F/2-medium for seven days in the first stage, the carotenoid and lipid contents, and productivity were 44g/kg (DW), 27% and 31mg/L/d, respectively. After second stage of cultivation of T. marina for further 3-days under N-replete condition (4.41mM NaNO3) increased biomass concentration of 1900mg/L and lipid content of 50% were observed, with an enhanced lipid productivity of 86.36mg/L/d and SFA and MUFA fractions of 70.76 and 13.14%, respectively. However, under P-repletion (2.08mM NaH2PO4), its carotenoid content increased to 89.23g/kg and its PUFA for 65% of total lipids. Results showed that N and P-replete conditions decreased SOD activity and increased H2O2 and TBARS levels of T. marina. Thus, this native microalga strain could be a potent candidate for feed,  food or biofuel production.