Ultrasonic Treatment Enhanced Astaxanthin Production of Haematococcus pluvialis

In this study, effects of ultrasonic treatment on Haematococcus pluvialis (H. pluvialis) were investigated. It has been confirmed that the ultrasonic stimulation acted as stress resources in the red cyst stage H. pluvialis cells containing astaxanthin, resulting in additional astaxanthin production. With the increase in production of astaxanthin, the average diameter of H. pluvialis cells increased accordingly. In addition, to determine how ultrasonic stimulation had an effect on the further biosynthesis of astaxanthin, genes related to astaxanthin synthesis and cellular ROS level were measured. As a result, it was confirmed that astaxanthin biosynthesis related genes and cellular ROS levels were increased, and thus ultrasonic stimulation acts as an oxidative stimulus. These results support the notion on the effect of the ultrasonic treatment, and we believe our novel approach based on the ultrasonic treatment would help to enhance the astaxanthin production from H. pluvialis.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effects of ultrasonic treatment on Haematococcus pluvialis (H. pluvialis). It was found that ultrasonic stimulation acted as a stress resource in H. pluvialis cells in the red cyst stage, resulting in additional production of the valuable compound astaxanthin. Furthermore, genes related to astaxanthin synthesis and cellular ROS levels were found to increase in response to ultrasonic stimulation, indicating its oxidative stimulus effect.