• ALGAE
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.185-192
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• 2013

A new cold-adapted Arctic strain of Haematococcus pluvialis from Blomstrandhalv${\o}$ya Island (Svalbard) is described. This strain is predominantly always in non-motile palmelloid stage. Transmission electron microscopy showed the presence of very thick cell wall and abundant lipid vesicles in the palmelloids, including red and green cells. The external morphology of the non-motile palmelloid and motile bi-flagellated cells of our strain is similar to H. pluvialis; however it differs from H. pluvialis in physiology. Our strain is adapted to live and produce astaxanthin in the low temperature ($4-10^{\circ}C$), whilst the usual growth temperature for H. pluvialis is between $20-27^{\circ}C$. Phylogenetic analysis based on 18S rRNA gene data showed that our strain nested within the Haematococcus group, forming a sister relationship to H. lacustris and H. pluvialis, which are considered synonymous. Therefore, we identified our Arctic strain as H. pluvialis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.849-854
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• 2006

The effects of Haematococcus pluvialis extracellular products on microbial growth and bacteriocin production were investigated to improve bacteriocin synthesis during the growth cycle of Lactobacilli. Lactobacillus pentosus KJ-108, L. plantarum KJ-10311, and L. sakei KJ-2008 were cultured in MRS and enriched medium (ERM) with or without supplement of the extracellular products obtained from a late exponential phase culture of Haematococcus pluvialis in modified Bold's basal medium (MBBM). In both MRS and ERM, the extracellular products strongly enhanced the growth as well as the bacteriocin production of all the lactic acid bacteria tested. The enhancing effect was observed in ERM with pH adjusted at 5 and 6. In addition, some difference in growth effects with the extracellular products of H. pluvialis was observed between pH 5 and 6 in ERM, but no effect was observed in the minimal medium. The final biomass and the final concentration of bacteriocin activity were associated with the cell growth that was promoted by the extracellular products of H. pluvialis, and the enhanced cell growth of the three lactic acid bacterial strains induced the increase of the specific bacteriocin production. Therefore, bacteriocin production and activity were influenced by the addition of the extracellular products of H. pluvialis in the culture medium.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.381-385
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• 2011

Studies were made to improve the stability of astaxanthin which has application limitations caused by light and thermal stability problems in spite of its strong anti-oxidant property. Astaxanthin was extracted from Haematococcus pluvialis with supercritical carbon dioxide. Liposomal encapsulation of astaxanthin to improve the stability was made with high pressure homogenizer. The narrow size distribution was observed with astaxanthin liposomes. Tests on light and thermal stabilities resulted that the liposormal encapsulation improved the stability of astaxanthin for cosmeceutical purposes.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.181-184
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• 2001

The biological fixation of carbon dioxide using microalgae have many advantages over chemicals and remove carbon dioxide simultaneously. A ketocarotenoid astaxanthin is hyper-accumulated in the green freshwater microalga, Haematococcus pluvialis. In the present study, the combine effects of carbon dioxide concentration and light intensity on the growth of H. pluvilais were investigated. The carbon dioxide concentration above 10% caused a severe inhibition and around 5% is optimal for growth. Adaptation to high concentration of carbon dioxide enhanced the $CO_2$ tolerance. Specific growth rate calculated differently based upon cell number or dry weight because of the distinctive life cycle patterns of H. pluvialis : small-sized motile green cell and thick cell walled red cyst cell. Based on the light dependence of H. pluvialis, internally illuminated air-lift photobioreactor was designed and operated. Gradual increase of light supply gave more active growth and more effective productivity of astaxanthin than constant light supply.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1081-1087
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• 2011

An internally radiating photobioreactor was applied for the production of astaxanthin using the unicellular green alga Haematococcus pluvialis. The cellular morphology of H. pluvialis was significantly affected by the intensity of irradiance of the photobioreactor. Small green cells were widespread under lower light intensity, whereas big reddish cells were predominant under high light intensity. For these reasons, growth reflected by cell number or dry weight varied markedly with light conditions. Even under internal illumination of the photobioreactor, light penetration was significantly decreased as algal cells grew. Therefore, we employed a multistage process by gradually increasing the internal illuminations for astaxanthin production. Our results revealed that a multistage process might be essential to the successful operation of a photobioreactor for astaxnthin production using H. pluvialis.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.194-199
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• 2009

An efficient production method of food-grade heamatococcus extract was developed based on stepwise enzymatic hydrolysis. In the first step, Haematococcus pluvialis cells hydrolysis carried out with commercially available exopeptidase(Flavourzyme) and endopeptidase (Alcalase), resulted in increased astaxanthin content. In the second step, proteolytic hydrolyzed H. pluvialis cells treated with hetero-polysaccharides hydrolytic enzyme (Viscozyme). By two-stage treatments using Alcalase and Flavourzyme and Viscozyme, the highest astaxanthin content was obtained. The astaxanthin content was remarkably enhanced by 320% $(529{\mu}g/g\rightarrow2,256{\mu}g/g)$ than that of the non-treated extract. And then, antioxidative activities determined by DPPH method were increased with increasing the astaxanthin content in haematococcus extract prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.393-397
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• 2007

A Haematococcus pluvialis strain isolated from the ruins of Ephesus in Turkey was investigated as regards its adaptation to laboratory conditions and maximum growth rate. In the first stage of the experiment, the growth of H. pluvialis was compared in common culture media. Furthermore, in an effort to minimize the culture costs, the second stage of the experiment compared the growth rate in the culture medium selected in the first stage with that in commercial plant fertilizers. The results demonstrated that the maximum cell concentration of 0.90 g/l, corresponding to a growth rate of $0.150d^{-1}$, was found with an N-P-K 20:20:20 fertilizer under a light intensity of $75{\mu}mol$ photons $m^{-2}s{-1}$ on the $12^{th}$ day of cultivation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1060-1066
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• 2005

Under environmental stress, such as strong irradiance or nitrogen deficiency, unicellular green algae of the genus Haematococcus accumulate secondary carotenoids, i.e. astaxanthin, in the cytosol. The induction and regulation of astaxanthin biosynthesis in microalgae has recently received considerable attention owing to the increasing use of secondary carotenoids as a source of pigmentation for fish aquacultures, and as a potential drug in cancer prevention as a free-radical quencher. Accordingly, this study generated expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from a library constructed from astaxanthin-induced Haematococcus pluvialis. Partial sequences were obtained from the 5' ends of 1,858 individual cDNAs, and then grouped into 1,025 non-overlapping sequences, among which 708 sequences were singletons, while the remainder fell into 317 clusters. Approximately $63\%$ of the EST sequences showed similarity to previously described sequences in public databases. H. pluvialis was found to consist of a relatively high percentage of genes involved in genetic information processing ($15\%$) and metabolism ($11\%$), whereas a relatively low percentage of sequences was involved in the signal transduction ($3\%$), structure ($2\%$), and environmental information process ($3\%$). In addition, a relatively large fraction of H. pluvialis sequences was classified as genes involved in photosynthesis ($9\%$) and cellular process ($9\%$). Based on this EST analysis, the full-length cDNA sequence for superoxide dismutase (SOD) of H. pluvialis was cloned, and the expression of this gene was investigated. The abundance of SOD changed substantially in response to different culture conditions, indicating the possible regulation of this gene in H. pluvialis.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.300-306
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• 2008

We investigated high light-induced alterations in antioxidant enzymes by exposing green vegetative cells of the alga Haematococcus pluvialis to excess irradiance to induce the production of astaxanthin, a carotenoid pigment. Total activity of catalase decreased approximately 70% after high light exposure, whereas glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity was slightly enhanced. Total activity of superoxide dismutase and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) also slightly decreased. Overall, we did not observe dramatically elevated levels of antioxidant isozymes, although APXn, GPX2, and GPX3 isozyme increased slightly. ${H_2}{O_2}$ content increased about sixfold after high light exposure, demonstrating severe cellular oxidative stress, whereas lipid peroxidation was notably reduced. Concomitantly, astaxanthin accumulation increased about sevenfold. This result suggests that probably massively accumulated astaxanthin may be one of the antioxidant protector against high light stress.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.322-330
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• 2003

The unicellular green alga Haematococcus pluvialis has recently attracted great inter-est due to its large amounts of ketocarotenoid astaxanthin, 3,3'-dihydroxy-${\beta}$,${\beta}$-carotene-4,4'-dione, widely used commercially as a source of pigment for aquaculture. In the life cycle of H. pluvialis, astaxanthin biosynthesis is associated with a remarkable morphological change from green motile vegetative cells into red immotile cyst cells as the resting stage. In recent years we have studied this morphological process from two aspects: defining conditions governing astaxanthin biosynthesis and questioning the possible function of astaxanthin in protecting algal cells against environmental stress. Astaxanthin accumulation in cysts was induced by a variety of environmental conditions of oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species, intense light, drought, high salinity, and high temperature. In the adaptation to stress, abscisic acid induced by reactive oxygen species, would function as a hormone in algal morphogenesis from veget ative to cyst cells. Furthermore, measurements of both in vitro and in vivo antioxidative activities of astaxanthin clearly demonstrated that tolerance to excessive reactive oxygen species is greater in astaxanthin-rich cysts than in astaxanthin-poor cysts or astaxanthin-less vegetative cells. Therefore, reactive oxygen species are involved in the regulation of both algal morph O-genesis and carotenogenesis, and the accumulated astaxanthin in cysts can function as a protective agent against oxidative stress damage. In this study, the physiological roles of astaxanthin in stress response and cell protection are reviewed.