PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SPIRULINA PLATENSIS (CYANOBACTERIA) CULTURED AT ULTRAHIGH CELL DENSITIES 1

Photosynthetic activity and growth physiology of Spirulina platensis (Nordstedt) Geitler cultures maintained at ultrahigh cell densities (i.e. above 100 mg chlorophyll‐L−1) in a newly designed photobioreactor were investigated. Nitrogen (NaNO3) in standard Zarouk medium was characterized as a major nutrient‐limiting factor in such cultures. The effect of ultrahigh cell density on photoinhibition of photosynthesis, as reflected by chlorophyll fluorescence and photosynthetic oxygen evolution, was studied: elevating the population density may arrest photoinhibition induced by high photon flux density, as well as low temperature. The relationship between incident irradiance and oxygen production rate was linear in situ for cultures at the optimal cell density, indicating that light limitation rather than light saturation or photoinhibition is the dominant condition outdoors in cultures of ultrahigh cell densities.

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