BIOACTIVITY OF IMMOBILIZED MICROALGAL CELLS - APPLICATION POTENTIAL OF VEGETABLE SPONGE IN MICROBIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

Bioactivity of immobilized cells, as evidenced by the production of intracellular phycoerythrin and extracellular polysaccharides by Porphyridium cruentum, in batch and repeated batch culture, respectively, is reported. Cells of P. cruentum immobilized within the vegetable sponge of Luffa cylindrica were grown in batch culture for 24 d and maintained at the stationary phase of growth in repeated batch cultures in a growth-limiting medium for 50 d. The study indicates the application potential of this recently reported biostructure as an immobilization matrix in microbial biotechnology.