Carbon Source Preference of Thraustochytrid from Philippine Mangroves for Increased Biomass and Lipid Production

Carbon Source Preference of Thraustochytrid from Philippine Mangroves

 for Increased Biomass and Lipid Production

Ma. Criselda M. Carmona1 2* and Gina R. Dedeles1 2 3

1 The Graduate School, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines

2 Pure and Applied Microbiology Laboratory, Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines

3 Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines 

*Email: macriselda.carmona.gs@ust.edu.ph

Food production and related nutraceutical industries are becoming unsustainable due to threats of climate change. In recent years, thraustochytrids have been recognized for their biotechnological potential which are a rich source of bioactive metabolites such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, carotenoids and squalene. In this study, different carbon sources (1, 2 and 3% w/v) were investigated for the biomass and lipid yield of the selected isolate as an alternative renewable resource for nutritional food products. Three isolates (ILO11, BUED1, and BAC9) were collected from mangrove forests in Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, and Negros Occidental. These isolates were morphologically characterized and molecularly identified as similar to Aurantiochytrium limacinum ATCC MYA-1381. Of the three isolates, Aurantiochytrium sp. BAC9 from Negros Occidental showed the highest growth using the basal medium and was selected to proceed in the succeeding analyses. In the carbon source optimization, the dry cell weight (DCW) obtained for Aurantiochytrium sp. BAC 9 reached 5.10 g L-1, 4.77 g L-1, 3.55 g L-1 and 2.81 g L-1 at 3% glycerol, glucose, fructose, and sucrose respectively with preference for glycerol as carbon source. The total lipids obtained were 0.87 g L-1, 0.52 g L-1, 0.21 g L-1 and 0.76 g L-1 at 3% glucose, fructose, sucrose, and glycerol, correspondingly. The results of this study can be used as additional data for the future optimization studies in biomass and lipid production of thraustochytrids.