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Enhanced autotrophic astaxanthin production from Haematococcus pluvialis under high temperature via heat stress-driven Haber–Weiss reaction

  • Applied microbial and cell physiology
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Abstract

High temperatures (30–36 °C) inhibited astaxanthin accumulation in Haematococcus pluvialis under photoautotrophic conditions. The depression of carotenogenesis was primarily attributed to excess intracellular less reactive oxygen species (LROS; O2 − and H2O2) levels generated under high temperature conditions. Here, we show that the heat stress-driven inefficient astaxanthin production was improved by accelerating the iron-catalyzed Haber–Weiss reaction to convert LROS into more reactive oxygen species (MROS; O2 and OH·), thereby facilitating lipid peroxidation. As a result, during 18 days of photoautotrophic induction, the astaxanthin concentration of cells cultured in high temperatures in the presence of iron (450 μM) was dramatically increased by 75 % (30 °C) and 133 % (36 °C) compared to that of cells exposed to heat stress alone. The heat stress-driven Haber–Weiss reaction will be useful for economically producing astaxanthin by reducing energy cost and enhancing photoautotrophic astaxanthin production, particularly outdoors utilizing natural solar radiation including heat and light for photo-induction of H. pluvialis.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Korea as a part of the Project of “Process demonstration for bioconversion of CO2 to high-valued biomaterials using microalgae” (20122010200010-11-2-100) in “Energy Efficiency & Resources Technology R&D” project, the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants (grant no. NRF-2013R1A2A1A01015644/2010-0027955), University-Institute Cooperation Program (2013), and grants (2014M1A8A1049278) from Korea CCS R&D Center of the NRF funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning of Korea. This study was also supported by the 2012 NLRL (National Leading Research Lab.) Project (2012R1A2A1A01008085).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, South Korea

    Min-Eui Hong & Byung Woo Kim

  2. Mirae Fine Chemical Co. Ltd., 50 Jeyakdanji-ro, Hyangnam-eup, Hwasung-si, Gyeonggi-do, 445-938, South Korea

    Sung Kwan Hwang

  3. Research Institute, Korea District Heating Corp., 186 Bundang-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

    Won Seok Chang

  4. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, 136-713, South Korea

    Jeewon Lee & Sang Jun Sim

  5. Green School, Korea University, Seoul, 136-713, South Korea

    Sang Jun Sim

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  1. Min-Eui Hong
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Correspondence to Sang Jun Sim.

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Hong, ME., Hwang, S.K., Chang, W.S. et al. Enhanced autotrophic astaxanthin production from Haematococcus pluvialis under high temperature via heat stress-driven Haber–Weiss reaction. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 5203–5215 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6440-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-015-6440-5

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