Fatty acid profiles in different phylogenetic and ecological groups of microalgae

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the fatty acid profiles of 10 newly discovered microalgae strains hailing from phylogenetic groups valued in biotechnology. The fatty acid profiles were characterized utilising principal component analysis, resulting in several notable findings. First, our analysis revealed that certain characteristics of these profiles align well with those previously identified in similar study groups. Most notably, the marine strain Chlorella vulgaris MI-Ch19-a was found to have the highest concentration of saturated fatty acids, measuring 60.48%. Furthermore, this strain also boasted the highest α-linolenic content among those analyzed, representing 22.14% of the total fatty acid spectrum. Each strain under study demonstrated significant amounts of 16:0 (with a range spanning 18.43% to 38.28%), 16:1n-7 (ranging from 17.05% to 32.55%), and 20:5n-3 (ranging from 4.96% to 20.13%). When considering the phylogenetic influence, which was particularly marked in the levels of total saturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acid content, it was the prominence of the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids that stood out amongst the phylogenetic groups. Lastly, the strains Thalassiosira eccentrica and Cyclotella atomus MI-B47 exhibited the highest volumes of eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3).

Keywords

• freshwater algae
• marine algae
• multidimensional statistics
• soil algae
• biotechnology