Biomass production of the marine microalga; chroomonas sp. in function of the pH, luminous intensity and salinity

We report the characterization of a marine microalga of the genus Chroomonas, isolated from a salt lagoon located to the north of Maracaibo, Zulia State, Venezuela. We evaluated the growth and the pigment production in discontinuous culture at different salinities (5, 10, 35, 50, 70 y 100 ppm), light intensities (39,78,117 and 156 μmol quanta.m2. s1 and pH (5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0). The highest cellular density, 117.99±2.62x106 fg.cell, was reached at 35 ppm, 156 μmol quanta.m2. s1 of light intensity and a ph between 6.0 and 8.0. The cellular content of total chlorophyll and carotenoids increased with the salinity up to 100 ppm, with amounts of 246.55 ± 61.8 y 69.79±18.19 fg.cell, respectively. The cellular productivity 4.31x109 cel1d1 was obtained when the microalga, was grown in semi-continuous culture, at a 2.01 volume and at a daily renewal rate of 30 % (v/v). The total amount of chlorophyll and carotenoids was 1.4 and 0.48 mg.ld, respectively. These results indicate that this planktonic microalga could be used as daily live food for larvae in aquaculture and for the production of micro algal biomass and/ or pigments