• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.149-158
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• 2008

Labyrinthulids are unicellular heterotrophic marine microalgae. Two labyrinthulid strains, L4 and L75, which produce generous amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids(PUFAs), were isolated from leaves floating in the coastal areas of Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, and Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, respectively. Both strains had spindle-shaped cells surrounded by ectoplasmic networks. Numerous oil bodies were observed in each cell, mostly in the vicinity of cell membranes. When soybean oil or soybean lecithin was used as a carbon source with peptone as a nitrogen source, the proportion of PUFAs reached 25-30% and 50-56% for L4 and L75, respectively. After 14 days of growth at $25^{\circ}C$, L4 produced 0.3 mg PUFAs/g-agar in PYA-SBO medium and 0.6 mg PUFAs/g-agar in PYA-SBL medium. In comparison, L75 produced 0.2 mg PUFAs/g-agar in both types of media. The differences between the two strains included changes in cellular morphology and the capacity for attaching tightly to fibers when cultured in liquid PYA medium containing 2% SBL. In addition, when the strains were grown under the same conditions, L4 had a higher growth rate and produced more PUFAs than L75.