Growth measurements by monitoring light scattering of a filamentous blue‐green alga which does not give uniform and stable suspension in culture vessels

Abstract

AbstractIt has been tried to adapt the light scattering technique to measure the growth of a filamentous blue‐green alga Westiellopsis profilica JANET which does not give stable and uniform suspension during its growth in culture vessels. Experiments were conducted to make stable suspensions of the organism and the results on the scattering and spectral studies were compared with that of Microcystis sp. which gives a uniform and stable suspension in culture vessels.Some conventional experiments were performed to show that the growth of the blue‐green alga, Westiellopsis prolifica does not run with the rate of pigment metabolism. It has also been observed that the alterations in size, shape, swelling and shrinkage and average cell characteristics of the alga resulted from alterations in physical and chemical characteristics of the culture media, significantly change the scattering values without much or any change in their growth rate in term of dry weight values.