The Effect of Gibberellic Acid on the Production Characteristics and Biochemical Parameters of Tetraselmis Suecica in an Enrichment Culture

Abstract

The use of gibberellic acid as a stimulator of microalgae growth has beensubstantiatedexperimentally.This research aimed to assess the effect of exposure to a wide range of gibberellic acid concentrations on the growth dynamics ofthe microalgaTetraselmissuecicain an enrichment culture. The duration of the experiments was 14 days. It has been shown that gibberellic acid,atconcentrations of 0.39–3.20× 10−8M, stimulates algaegrowth. In this research, the exposure to gibberellic acid at concentrations of 0.39–3.20 × 10−8M was accompanied by a variation in the pattern of growth curves: the maximum number of cells was recorded on day seven of the experiment. A higher concentration of the phytohormone (3.84 × 10−8М) inhibited the increase inculture density. The growth of theT. suecicaculture in the control group was 332%;the growth of the culture exposed to gibberellic acid at a concentration of 0.39 × 10−8M was1136%. The values of the specific growth rate ofT. suecicawere estimated for different periods of cultivation. On day14 of the experiment, the biochemical composition of microalgae biomass was analyzed.According to the results, gibberellic acid stimulated the accumulation of carbohydrates, proteins, and chlorophyll. Nevertheless, the phytohormone had no effect on lipidaccumulation. An assumption was made thatexposure to low concentrations of phytohormone stimulates the growth of microalgae by reducing the lag phase of growth. Keywords: gibberellic acid, microalga, cultivation, lipids, carbohydrates, proteins