The genus
Haematococcus
is found globally, with reports of isolates from all continents with the exception of Antarctica, with hostile areas of isolation including the artic circle (Klochkova et al., 2013).
H. pluvialis
is of commercial interest due to its ability to produce copious amounts of astaxanthin, reaching up to 5 % dry weight in the encysted aplanospore state (Wayame et al., 2013). Astaxanthin is sold as a pigment for aquaculture and in animal feed, and is marketed as an antioxidant for the nutraceutical market. The
H. pluvialis
derived astaxanthin industry is commercially successful; however, several constraints are ever-present including issues of contamination and grazing, high extraction costs, high light requirements for encystment, and conversely, photo-bleaching (Shah et al., 2016).
Astaxanthin is produced under high light and nutrient deplete conditions (García-Malea et al., 2008). High temperature is rarely implemented to induce astaxanthin production, as it was reported to severely reduce biomass yield, and thus decrease astaxanthin productivity (Tjahjono et al. 1994). Currently the red stage of astaxanthin production is constrained by biomass production in the green stage, which requires strictly controlled culture conditions. Optimal reported temperatures for the vegetative growth of H. pluvialis
are between 20 and 28°C (Wan et al., 2014), with temperatures in excess of 30°C shown to induce transition from the green vegetative stage to the red stage with the formation of aplanospores. Domínguez-Bocanegra et al., (2004) demonstrated optimal growth at an irradiance of 177 µmol photons/m²/s with higher density cultures achieved under continuous light.
Domínguez-Bocanegra A. R., Guerrero Legarreta I., Martinez Jeronimo F., Tomasini Campocosio A. (2004) Influence of environmental and nutritional factors in the production of astaxanthin from
Haematococcus pluvialis . Bioresource Technology
, 92, pp. 209–214
García-Malea, M.C., Sánchez, E. D. R., López, J. C., Fernández, F. A., Sevilla, J. F., Rivas, J., Guerro, M.G. & Grima, E. M. (2006) Comparative analysis of the outdoor culture of Haematococcus pluvialis
in tubular and bubble column photobioreactors, Journal of Biotechnology
, 123 (3), pp. 329-342
Han, D., Wang, J., Sommerfeld, M. & Hu, Q. (2012) Susceptibility and protective mechanisms of motile and non motile cells of Haematococcus pluvialis
(chlorophyceae) to photooxidative stress, Journal of Phycology
, 48 (3), pp. 693-705
Klochkova, T.A., Kwak, M.S., Han, J.W., Motomura, T., Nagasato, C. & Kim, G.H. (2013) Cold-tolerant strain of Haematococcus pluvialis
(Haematococcaceae, Chlorophyta) from Blomstrandhalvøya (Svalbard), Algae
, 28 (2), pp. 185-192
Sarada, R., Bhattacharya, S. & Ravishankar, G. (2002) Optimization of culture conditions for growth of the green alga Haematococcus pluvialis
, World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
, 18 (6), pp. 517-521
Shah, M.M.R., Liang, Y., Cheng, J.J. and Daroch, M. (2016) Astaxanthin-producing green microalga Haematococcus pluvialis
: from single cell to high value commercial products. Frontiers in Plant Science
, 7, p. 531
Tjahjono, A.E., Hayama, Y., Kakizono, T., Terada, Y., Nishio, N. & Nagai, S. (1994) Hyper-accumulation of astaxanthin in a green alga Haematococcus pluvialis
at elevated temperatures, Biotechnology Letters
, 16 (2), pp. 133-138
Wan, M., Hou, D., Li, Y., Fan, J., Huang, J., Liang, S., Wang, W., Pan, R., Wang, J. & Li, S. (2014) The effective photoinduction of Haematococcus pluvialis
for accumulating astaxanthin with attached cultivation, Bioresource Technology
, 163, pp. 26-32
Wayama, M., Ota, S., Matsuura, H., Nango, N., Hirata, A. & Kawano, S. (2013) Three-Dimensional Ultrastructural Study of Oil and Astaxanthin Accumulation during Encystment in the Green Alga Haematococcus pluvialis’ , PLOS One
, 8 (1)