Media engineering in marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum employing
cost-effective substrates for sustainable production of high value
renewables
Abstract
Phaeodactylum tricornutum is a marine diatom, and well-studied model of
unicellular microalga. This diatom contains a wide range of high-value
renewables (HVRs) with high commercial relevance owing to their
importance in human nutrition and health. In this study, we screened P.
tricornutum for biomass, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and fucoxanthin
production under photoautotrophic and mixotrophic condition with various
substrate combinations. Results highlights that culture supplemented
with glycerol and urea lead to enhanced biomass, biochemical and HVR
production. Further continuous feeding of urea in glycerol supplemented
medium results in an increase in biomass yield (0.77 g L-1) by
~ 2-fold. Additionally, continuous feeding of urea
channelizes the carbon flux towards biosynthesis of fatty acids
increasing FAME content by ~2-fold as compared to the
control conditions. Overall EPA and fucoxanthin production was 27 mg L-1
and 11 mg L-1 (~2 & 4 fold) in urea fed cultures
respectively. Present study demonstrates efficient valorization of
cost-effective substrates such as glycerol and urea for the production
of high-value renewables in P. tricornutum.