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Electronic Journal of Biotechnology ISSN: 0717-3458 Vol. 9 No. 4, Issue of July 15, 2006
© 2006 by Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso -- Chile Received January 19, 2005 / Accepted November 21, 2005
DOI: 10.2225/vol9-issue4-fulltext-5  
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Modulation of unsaturated fatty acids content in algae Spirulina platensis and Chlorella minutissima in response to herbicide SAN 9785

Deepa Kachroo
 Microbiology Division
Centre for Biochemical Technology
Delhi University Campus
Mall Road, New Delhi, India

Shaneen M. Singh Jolly
 Department of Biology
Brooklyn College
City University of New York
2900 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn NY 11210, USA
Tel: 1 718 951 5720
E mail: ssingh@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Viraraghavan Ramamurthy*
 Department of Biotechnology
PSG College of Technology
Coimbatore 641004 India
Tel: 91 422 4344777
Fax: 91 422 2573833
E-mail: ram@email.psgtech.ac.in 

*Corresponding author

Keywords: Chlorella minutissima, fatty acid desaturation, polyunsaturated fatty acids, Spirulina platensis, SAN 9785.

Abbreviations:

GLA: γ-linolenic acid
PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids
Abstract
Full Text

The accumulation of polyunsaturated fatty acids by algae Spirulina platensis and Chlorella minutissima was studied. Response of these organisms to the substituted pyridazinone, SAN 9785, an inhibitor of the long chain fatty acid desaturase, indicated that fatty acid synthesis and their desaturation were regulated differently in these organisms. While the pool of palmitic acid, the precursor for the unsaturated C18 fatty acids, was stringently maintained in the green alga C. minutissima, in the cyanobacterium S. platensis the level of palmitic acid was liberally maintained in spite of the enhanced accumulation of unsaturated C18 fatty acids.
 
Supported by UNESCO / MIRCEN network
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