Investigation of Neutral Lipid Production in Desmodesmus armatus and Synechocystis sp PCC6803

Microalgae has been introduced in the last decades to be an optimum source for biofuel production that can be utilised efficiently to replace the conventional fossil fuels as a source of energy. In our study, a local strain of green microalgae was isolated from the Weston Park pond (Sheffield, UK) and identified, using different molecular markers including 18S rDNA, ITS1, ITS2, and 5.8S rDNA, as Desmosdesmus armatus. The neutral lipid content (as the basis of renewable biodiesel production) of both D. armatus and the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. was measured using the lipophilic fluorescent dye Nile Red. The two strains were grown in normal BG11 medium and under stress conditions including high salinity (0.2, 0.4 M NaCl), different concentrations of sodium nitrate in the BG11 media (10% NaNO3, N-free), and different sources of nitrogen (NH4Cl, urea). The results showed that N-free BG11 medium was the best stress conditions in both strains for inducing a significant (p