• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2007

Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis is one of the commercially important filamentous cyanobacteria. The heterotrophic cultivation of Arthrospira can be an alternative strategy for commercial mass production. In heterotrophic culture, the specific growth rate of A. platensis M9108, a glucose-resistant mutant of A. platensis PCC 9108, was $0.014h^{-1}$ which was 1.8 higher than that oi the previous report. The mutant possessed the facility to assimilate and to metabolize glucose efficiently under heterotrophic condition. However, the r-linolenic acid content of 6 Arthrospira strains was not increased in heterotrophic culture. Four Arthrospira strains out of 6 tested strains were able to utilize maltose as a carbon source under heterotrophic condition. The biomass production of these strains on maltose was similar to that on glucose. The specific growth rate of A. platensis M9108 increased with glucose concentration up to 5.0 g/L and then decreased at a glucose concentration of 10.0 g/L. Additionally, A. platensis M9108 under heterotrophic condition showed no aggregation during the cultivation in contrast to A. platensis PCC 9108.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.119-124
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• 2015

Arthrospira platensis (A. platensis) is a microscopic and filamentous cyanobacterium that derives its name from the spiral or helical nature of its filaments. In this study, we induced mutants of A. platensis through NMU treatment and selected two strains by level of ipid contents. We named mutant '1-9', '2-5', and they were cultivated in the same way with the wild type. During 12 days cultivation, cell growth, dry cell weight, pigment content, and lipid content were measured for characteristics of mutants. As a result, pigment and lipid content of mutants were increased about 3.6, 1.8 times compared with wild type, respectively. It was shown that total flavonoid and polyphenol contents of mutants were increased about 1.5 times compared with wild type. And radical scavenging effect of mutants were increased about 10% compared with wild type.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.319-325
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• 2015

Arthrospira platensis (A. platensis) is one of the most explored cyanobacteria and has been studied for proteins, vitamins, pigment (chlorophyll and carotenoids) and fatty acid. In this study, we tested the effect of $NaHCO_3$ and $NaNO_3$ on the microalgae growth under photoautothrophic culture in A. platensis. As a result, cell growth and dry cell weight were increased in proportion to the $NaHCO_3$ and $NaNO_3$ concentration. Pigment (chlorophyll and carotenoids) contents of A. platensis were increased with proportion to $NaHCO_3$ concentration. But, the content of pigment (chlorophyll and carotenoids) in 100% $NaNO_3$ medium of A. platensis was the highest, 40%, 140% and 200% $NaNO_3$ medium with pigment content of A. platensis was reduced. In conditions of $NaHCO_3$ (50%) or $NaNO_3$ (40%) limitation, A. platensis could accumulate lipids to high as 1.7-fold and 1.3-fold.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.172-176
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• 2012

In this study, microalgae Arthrospira platensis (A. platensis) mutants induced by ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) and further selection for resistance of cerulenin, a potent inhibitor of fatty acid synthase, were characterized. The mutants selected by $2{\mu}M$, $5{\mu}M$ and $10{\mu}M$ of cerulenin were designated EC2, EC5 and EC10, respectively. Under normal growth conditions, the mutants and parental strain exhibited similar growth pattern. The mutants of A. platensis showed enhanced lipid accumulation and phycobiliproteins (phycoerythrin, phycocyanin). The lipid content of mutants EC2 and EC5 was about 4.4 and 4.8-fold higher than wild type. The phycoerythrin and phycocyanin content of mutants EC2 and EC5 was increased about 1.5 and 6.9-fold and 1.4 and 3.8-fold, respectively, compared to the wild type. The chlorophyll and carotenoid content of mutants was slightly increased. The high lipid and pigment contents exhibited by A. platensis mutants would make an excellent candidate for the production of commercially interesting biologically active compounds.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.496-500
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• 2012

Arthrospira platensis (A. platensis) is an economically important filamentous microalgae. The isolation of mutants by chemical or physical mutagen is a clue for the strain improvement. In this study, effects of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation on A. platensis were investigated. Cells (or microalgae) were exposed to UV-B (15 Watt, 254 nm) for 1, 3, 5, and 10 min, and resulting mutants were designated UM1, UM3, UM5, and UM10, respectively. Especially, the lipid content of UM5 mutant was considerably increased by 8~11 fold compared to that of wild types. Moreover, the carotenoid content and antioxidant enzyme (peroxidase and superoxide dismutase) activity were increased. It was shown that UV-induced mutants can accumulate bioactive compounds, which will be useful for the industrial production of valuable products.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.268-274
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• 2009

A photosynthetic cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis, well known for health food supplement, was studied as a target species for atmospheric $CO_2$ removal as well as biomass production. Although the biomass of A. platensis was massively produced in many countries, the recovery cost of its biomass is still high. The purpose of this study was to develop the A. platensis mutant strains which have enhanced growth rate and floatation activity to reduce the recovery cost. A. platensis KCTC AG20590 was treated with 0.24% ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) for 20 min at room temperature. The mutant strain A. platensis M20CJK3 was finally selected by its morphological and physiological features. The morphology of the mutant A. platensis M20CJK3 was changed from loose-coiled form to tight-coiled form showing short pitch. The growth and $CO_2$ uptake rate of A. platensis M20CJK3 were improved about 15% and 17% compared with A. platensis KCTC AG20590, respectively. The floatation activity of A. platensis M20CJK3 was enhanced in 2-fold compared with that of A. platensis KCTC AG20590. Soluble proteins extracted from two strains were analyzed by two dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and MALDI-TOF MS/MS. Among 15 protein spots induced in 2-DE analysis, two spots were the proteins related to photosynthesis and electron transfer system of the other cyanobacteria. As a consequence, it seems that the tight-coiled mutant A. platensis M20CJK3 has an advantage of high growth rate and floatation activity which are beneficial for the mass cultivation and recovery.

• ALGAE
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.75-82
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• 2012

$Arthrospira$ $platensis$ and $Arthrospira$ $maxima$ are species of cyanobacteria used in health foods, animal feed, food additives, and fine chemicals. This study conducted a comparison of the 16S rRNA gene and $cpcBA$-intergenic spacer ($cpcBA$-IGS) sequences in $Arthrospira$ strains from culture collections around the world. A cluster analysis divided the 10 $Arthrospira$ strains into two main genotypic clusters, designated I and II, where Group I contained $A.$ $platensis$ SAG 86.79, UTEX 2340, $A.$ $maxima$ KCTC AG30054, and SAG 49.88, while Group II contained $A.$ $platensis$ PCC 9108, NIES 39, NIES 46, and SAG 257.80. However, although $A.$ $platensis$ PCC 9223 belonged to Group II-2 based on its $cpcBA$-IGS sequence, this strain also belonged to Group I based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene and $cpcBA$-IGS sequences showed no division between $A.$ $platensis$ and $A.$ $maxima$, plus the 16S rRNA gene and $cpcBA$-IGS sequence clusters did not indicate any well-defined geographical distribution, instead overlapping in a rather interesting way. Therefore, the current study supports some previous conclusions based on 16S rRNA gene and $cpcBA$-IGS sequences, which found that $Arthrospira$ taxa are monophyletic. However, when compared with 16S rRNA sequences, $cpcBA$-IGS sequences may be better suited to resolve close relationships and intraspecies variability.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.569-574
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• 2015

Arthrospira platensis has high lipid and pigment (such as chlorophyll and carotenoid) contents and thus evaluated as an important resource in functional food production. The cell growth rate and pigment concentration of EM24 increased by approximately 1.2-fold than those of the wild-type strain (WT). Fluorescence intensity levels in EM24, which were quantified with a lipid triolein standard curve, also increased by approximately 1.5-fold than those in WT (62.9 mg/Lvs. 38.9 mg/L). The analysis of fatty acid profiles indicated that the gamma-linoleic acid level in EM24 increased by 1.5-fold than that in WT.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.282-291
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• 2022

Since the efficiency of wastewater treatment using microalgae differs depending on the metabolic characteristics of the species, it is important to understand the characteristics of target algae prior to the application in wastewater treatment. In this study, for the application of Arthrospira platensis to wastewater treatment, which is a filamentous alkaliphilic cyanobacteria, basic species specificity was identified and the possibility of application to wastewater treatment was investigated. As a result of the species specificity investigation, the specific growth rate between pH 7.0 and 11.0 showed the highest value near pH 9 at 0.25/day. The reason for the relatively low growth(0.08/day) at pH 11 was thought to be the CA(carbonic anhydrase) enzyme that is involved in carbon fixation during photosynthesis has the highest activity at pH 8.0 to 9.0, and at pH 11, CA activity was relatively low. In addition, A. platensis showed optimal growth at 400 PPFD(photosynthetic photon flux density) and 30℃, and this means that cyanobacteria such as A. platensis have a larger number of PS-I(photosystem I) than that of PS-II(photosystem II). It was speculated that it was because higher light intensity and temperature were required to sufficiently generate electrons to transfer to PS-I. Regarding the applicability of A. platensis, it was suggested that if a system using the synergistic effect of co-culture of A. platensis and bacteria was developed, a more efficient system would be possible. And different from single cocci, filamentous A. platensis expected to have a positive impact on harvesting, which is very important in the latter part of the wastewater treatment process.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.433-438
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• 2023

This study investigated the growth and metabolic characteristics of Arthrospira platensis (A. platensis) according to pH, which has an alkaline optimal pH. The intake of inorganic carbon was expected to be the highest at the optimum pH 9, but it was different from the expectation, so the cause of the excessive intake of inorganic carbon at pH 7 was investigated. We tried to verify the triacylglycerol (TAG) synthesis metabolic mechanism because it was assumedthat the inorganic carbon intake of A. platensis according to pH is closely related to lipid production inside the cell. To verify this, the effects of pH on inorganic carbon intake were examined through lipid analysis inthe cell of A. platensis according to pH. As a result, in the case of the effect of inorganic carbon intake of A. platensis according to pH on TAG content, pH 9 and pH 11 showed no significant difference in TAG content, but at pH 7, it was two times higher compared to pH 9 and pH 11. It was assumed that the reason why A. platensis excessively consumed inorganic carbon at pH 7 was because itincreased the TAG content in proportion to the intake of inorganic carbon to protect cells from external pH stress. In addition, it is considered that the TAG content produced in proportion to the intake of inorganic carbon is because acetyl-CoA produced in the Calvin cycle is required for the synthesis of TAG.