Growth and primary cell composition of plateau microalgae Desmodesmus sp. QL96 under low temperature

Abstract

Microalgae Desmodesmus sp. QL96 was newly isolated from Northwest Tibetan Plateau area which featured low temperature and oxygen content. In this work, Desmodesmus sp. QL96 was cultivated at 4 °C, and the algal growth and cell composition was investigated. It turned out that the microalgae has stayed at lag phase for over 10 days post inoculation, with a slight increase in cell numbers in the following 18 days. The cell content composed mainly of proteins with a percent of more than 40%, followed by lipid, though their amount varying over the culture time. The adaptation of this microalgae to extreme environmental condition deserves a further study.