Crecimiento y pigmentos de Spirulina subsalsa cultivada a diferentes salinidades y concentraciones de nitrógeno

The aim of this research was to evaluate the growth and content of pigments of a new isolate of Spirulina subsalsa grown in seawater at different salinities and nitrogen concentrations. The new S. subsalsa strain was isolated from water samples from the Clavellino reservoir, Sucre state, Venezuela, and was identified using the taxonomic key proposed by Aguiar (2013). The culture medium tested was f / 2 Guillard, modifying the concentrations of nitrate (14.5; 29, 59 mmol/L) and sodium chloride (0, 9 and 18 ‰ by the addition of seawater). The cultures were carried out in triplicate, discontinuously, under conditions of controlled environment (T: 30±1 °C, illumination: 3,000 lux, manual agitation, photoperiod 12:12), for 21 days. The results obtained showed that the salinity of 9 ‰ and the nitrate concentration of 14 mmol/L were the parameters that propitiated the highest biomass; while chlorophyll a and phycocyanin showed higher values ​​at the same nitrogen concentration at 0 ‰. These findings indicate that salinity and nitrogen concentration affect the growth and pigments of the new isolate of S. subsalsa and suggest that this strain has potential for its biotechnological exploitation in order to obtain valuable metabolites for food and pharmacological industries.