Abstract
Microalgae represent an exceptionally diverse but highly specialized group of micro-organisms that adapt to various ecological habitats. Due to their unique environment (extremely low temperature and anoxia), the Tibetan Plateau is among the regions with numerous rare ecotypes such as arid desert, salt marsh, alpine permafrost, hot spring and lawn. In this study, 52 microalgae from different environments in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were isolated and divided into 11 different groups based on the results of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Then, 2-3 strains of each group were selected for 18s rDNA molecular identification. The oil contents among the studied strains varied from 3.26 to 25.47%. The results indicate that the number and high lipid content of the strains isolated from the water were much more than those from the soil. This provides a direction for the isolation of high oleaginous microalgae. Key words: Northern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, microalgae, lipids, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), 18s rDNA.
Highlights
Conventional biodiesel mainly comes from soybean and vegetable oils (Huang et al, 2010; Bunyakiat et al, 2006), palm oil (Al-Widyan et al, 2002), sunflower oil (Antolinet al., 2002), rapeseed oil (Peterson et al, 1996) as well as restaurant waste oil (Bouaid et al, 2007)
The results indicate that the number and high lipid content of the strains isolated from the water were much more than those from the soil
Isolation and lipid content determination of selected microalgae strains Fifty two strains of oleaginous microalgae from a variety of habitats in Qinghai Province had been isolated; among them 27 strains were isolated from water samples and 25 strains from soil samples
Summary
Conventional biodiesel mainly comes from soybean and vegetable oils (Huang et al, 2010; Bunyakiat et al, 2006), palm oil (Al-Widyan et al, 2002), sunflower oil (Antolinet al., 2002), rapeseed oil (Peterson et al, 1996) as well as restaurant waste oil (Bouaid et al, 2007). Producing lipids by microbial fermentation is a new approach of lipids. Oleaginous microorganisms are used more and more widely for producing functional oil and biodiesel. Microalgae have many advantages such as high photosynthetic efficiency, fast growth rate, no restriction of season and climate, easy realization of large-scale production. Microalgae are considered as raw materials for biodiesel with a lot of potential (Chisti, 2007). Exploiting oil resource with microalgae has attracted more and more attention. Biodiesel production with microalgae has become one of the important research areas
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