Abstract

This study examined the effects of an adenine-type cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA) on the growth and metabolism characteristics of Botryococcus braunii, one of the most promising oil-rich algae for biofuel production. The results showed that 6-BA of low dose (0.1-1.0 mg L-1) would enhance the algal growth rate and biochemical synthesis, whereas too much (5.0 mg L-1) would be lethally toxic for B. braunii. Noticingly, though the maximum algal growth rate, chlorophyll and β-carotenoid content were observed in the treatment with 0.5 and/or 1.0 mg L-1 6-BA, both the maximum algal hydrocarbon content and the highest hydrocarbon productivity were observed in the treatment with 0.1 mg L-1 6-BA, which were respectively 2.45 and 3.48 times of the control (39.1% vs. 16.0%, 546 mg L-1 vs. 157 mg L-1). This finding has great implications for improving algae biofuels production by phytohormone.

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