Extremophilic micro-algae and their potential contribution in biotechnology

Communities that thrive in extreme conditions captured from a freshwater lake

“…1000 lx of white light), mineral nutrients (electronic supplementary material, SM3) and air. Micro-algae were targeted because their productivity could sustain a complex community of heterotrophs, and because extremophilic micro-algae have far ranging biotechnological applications [12]. Target treatment conditions (electronic supplementary material, SM1) were control, acidic (addition of HCl to pH 2), basic (addition of NaOH to pH 12) and saline (addition of NaCl 40 ppt).…”

“…Finding extremophiles and identifying the mechanism for their presence in benign environments provide insight into our nascent understanding of microbial functional biogeography [11] and, as extremophiles are used in a number of industrial processes [12], may highlight the potential of benign environments for bio-prospecting. If the only extremophiles present are obligate extremophiles because of a trade-off between growth in extreme and benign environments, their presence would be due to dispersal or local heterogeneity and they would be expected to be very rare.…”

Phylogenetic characterization and morphological and physiological aspects of a novel acidotolerant and halotolerant microalga Coccomyxa onubensis sp. nov. (Chlorophyta, Trebouxiophyceae)

“…Extremophile microalgae have the ability to cope with such harsh conditions. These microalgae have developed the ability to grow under high or low temperature, under high or low pH, in the presence of metal ions, under high irradiance, and also in the presence of a number of other extremophile microorganisms in the same habitats (Varshney et al 2015). Despite the natural abilities of these microalgae that are promising for biotechnological applications, little attention has so far been paid to the potential of extremophile microalgae.…”

Growth and fatty acid profiles of microalgae species isolated from the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

“…Additionally, the isolated strains of cyanobacteria could be used to obtain pigments, antioxidant compounds, and animal food supplements (Belay et al, 1996;Abed et al, 2009;Varshney et al, 2015). strain 4) 14.7 ± 0.4 cd 4.5 ± 0.1 e 10.2 ± 0.5 b Amphora sp.…”