• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.22-29
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• 2017

A unicellular green alga was axenically isolated from the Port of Jeongja, Ulsan, Korea. Morphological, molecular, and biochemical analyses revealed that the isolate belonged to Heterochlorella luteoviridis. This is the first report of this species in Korea. The microalgal strain was named as H. luteoviridis MM0014 and its growth, lipid composition, and biomass properties were investigated. The strain thrived over a wide range of temperatures ($5-30^{\circ}C$) and withstood up to 0.5 M NaCl. The results of gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis showed that the isolate was rich in nutritionally important polyunsaturated fatty acids. Its major fatty acids were linoleic acid (35.6%) and ${\alpha}$-linolenic acid (16.2%). Thus, this indigenous marine microalga is a potential alternative source of ${\omega}3$ and ${\omega}6$ polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are currently obtained from fish and plant oils. Ultimate analysis indicated that the gross calorific value was $19.7MJ\;kg^{-1}$. In addition, the biomass may serve as an excellent animal feed because of its high protein content (51.5%). Therefore, H. luteoviridis MM0014 shows promise for applications in the production of microalgae-based biochemicals and biomass feedstock.