SUITABILITY OF CHLORELLA-VULGARIS UAM-101 FOR HETEROTROPHIC BIOMASS PRODUCTION

The dry weight production of mixotrophic (MX), photoheterotrophic (PH) and chemoheterotrophic (QH) batch cultures of Chlorella vulgaris UAM 101 in the presence of glucose is always larger than that of the control cultures grown photoautotrophically (PA). The rates of mitochondrial respiration and of nitrate uptake are strongly stimulated in the three different models of heterotrophic growth. Glucose also promotes a marked increase of photosynthetic O2 evolution of mixotrophic cultures. There is a reduction in the protein content of mixotrophic cells, which is compensated by an increase in lipids and carbohydrates. The enhancement of the main physiological processes in the presence of glucose accounts for the heterotrophic potential of this strain.