Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Understanding Precision Nitrogen Stress To Optimize The Growth And Lipid Content Tradeoff In Oleaginous Green Microalgae, Curtis Adams, Valerie Godfrey, Bruce Bugbee, Brad Wahlen, Lance Seefeldt

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Nitrogen deficiency promotes lipid formation in many microalgae, but also limits growth and lipid productivity. In spite of numerous studies, there is poor understanding of the interactions of growth and lipid content, the time course of lipid accumulation and the magnitude of nitrogen deficiency required to stimulate lipid formation. These relationships were investigated in six species of oleaginous green algae, comparing high and low levels of deficiency. Nitrogen stress typically had disproportionate effects on growth and lipid content, with profound differences among species. Optimally balancing the tradeoffs required a wide range in nitrogen supply rate among species. Some species grew …