Growth and photosynthetic performance of Nostoc linckia (formerly N. calcicola ) cells grown in BG11 and BG11 0 media

The biotechnological potential of Nostoc linckia as a biofertilizer and source of bioactive compounds makes it important to study its growth physiology and productivity. Since nitrogen is a fundamental component of N. linckia biomass, we compared the growth and biochemical composition of cultures grown in BG11 (i.e., in the presence of nitrate) and BG11 0 (in the absence of nitrate). Cultures grown in BG11 accumulated more cell biomass reaching a dry weight of 1.65 ± 0.06 g L –1 , compared to 0.92 ± 0.01 g L –1 in BG11 0 after 240 h of culture. Biomass productivity was higher in culture grown in BG11 medium (average 317 ± 38 mg L –1 day –1 ) compared to that attained in BG11 0 (average 262 ± 37 mg L –1 day –1 ). The chlorophyll content of cells grown in BG11 increased continuously up to (39.0 ± 1.3 mg L –1 ), while in BG11 0 it increased much more slowly (13.6 ± 0.8 mg L –1 ). Biomass grown in BG11 had higher protein and phycobilin contents. However, despite the differences in biochemical composition and pigment concentration, between BG11 and BG11 0 cultures, both their net photosynthetic rates and maximum quantum yields of the photosystem II resulted in similar. Graphical Abstract