Abstract:
The objective of this work is to study a series of response of Spirulinaplatensis strain 21912 to high temperature shock. The isothermal growth study at 35, 38,40, 42 and 4 4 C showed no growth at 42'~ but cells were still viable. A temperatureshift from 35 to 42 'C was performed to study responses of Spirulina in changing tohigher temperature. The result will be an information for further study on a recovery ofSpirulina from high temperature shock.Spirulina platensis strain 21912 was cultivated at 35 C for 72 hours beforeshifting immediately to 42 k and incubated at this high temperature for another 96hours. During the shifted period, growth and chemical analyses were conducted comparedwith cells grown at 35 C. Results showed that the increase in cell dry weight wascomparable with at 35 C for 54 hours after shifiing. At both temperatures, dry weightincreased from 548 to 850 mg.fl The dry weight continued to increase to 970 mg.il at72 hours, 35 C but remained relatively constant (880 mg,fl) at 42 C. In addition togrowth inhibition, cells started to die with cultures turned to yellowish-green anddecreased in dry weight when incubation period at 42 C was prolonged to more than 72hours. The trichomes were broken and photosynthetic efficiency by measuring oxygenevolution of the cell was only 50% of the original value.The chemical analyses of cells indicated an increase in carbohydrate andcarotenoids synthesis throughout growth at both temperatures. Cells at 35 C contained 74mg.g celil carbohydrate and 2.9 mg.g cell-' carotenoids, respectively, after growth at35 OC for 96 hours whereas the cells at 4 2 ' ~ consisted of 116 and 2.8 mg.g cell-' ofcarbohydrate and carotenoids, respectively. In contrast, cells grown at high temperaturewere found to have less phycocyanirl and protein. Protein synthesis slowly increasedfrom 249 to 296 mg.fl after 54 hours of temperature shift and decreased afterward to170 mg.fl at 96 hours compared to 369 and 410 mg.il, respectively at 3 5 ' ~Cells were able to synthesize phycocyanin and chlorophyll at 42 % thoughthe synthesis was quite limited. Until 54 hours, phycocyanin and chlorophyll increased to97 and 9 mg.l". At 42 OC compared to 130 and 13 mg.il, respectively at35'~. However, the amount of phycocyanin started to decline at 42 'C to 95 and 84mg.? at 72 and 96 hours, respectively. The reduction was observed in chlorophyll whichreduced from 8.7 at 54 hours to 7.5 and 7.1 mg.ff at 72 and 96 hours, at the sametemperature. The phycocyanin of cells grown at 3 5 ' ~ increased tremendously to 150 and180 mg.fl at 72 and 96 hours due to cell shading.Due to an unbalanced growth at 42 c during 54 hours after temperature upshift,the protein, phycocyanin and chlorophyll contents of cells were changed from 450,133 and 13 mg.g cell to 350, 115 and 10 mg.g cell-', respectively, before and afterchanging temperature. The chemical compositions of cells were: 243 mg.g cell-1 protein ,108 mg.g cell1 phycocyanin, 8.5 mg.g cell" chlorophyll at 72 hours, and 202, 100 and8.5 mg.g cell-1, respectively, at 96 hours, 42 c.Photosynthesis activities as expressed by oxygen evolution showed thatchanging in temperature had no effect on oxygen evolution up to 6 hours then decreasedby 10, 16, 30 and 47% after 30, 54, 72 and 96 hours, respectively. In contrast, oxygenevolution of cells grown at 35 c was quite constant at 500 pmol 02.mg chil.h-' duringthe same period.The high temperature affected the fatty acid composition of plasma andthylakoid membranes. The composition of gamma linolenic acid decreased with increasingin linoleic acids. The fatty acid composition of plasma and thylakoid membranes after 48hours temperature shifi are as follows: