Continuous Culture to Find Optimum Light Wavelength for Growth of Synechocystis

Synechocystis is one of the most well know cyanobacteria due to its interesting genetic characteristics. It was already known that Synechocystis does not need the whole spectrum of visible light and it can grow very fast by orange-red light illumination. The aim of this work is to study this behavior more in depth and find the best light wavelength in orange-red region for optimum growth of Synechocystis. A flat plate photobioreactor was used for continuous culture of Synechocystis. The lighting of the photobioreactor was done by using a LED panel with capability of illumination at five different wavelengths including 600, 635, 660, 670 and 730 nm. The results revealed that the highest biomass yield and growth rate was achieved at 635 nm. This behavior is attributed to the existence of phycocyanin, the principal phycobilisome in Synechocystis, which has the maximum absorbance at around 620 nm.

Keywords:

Synechocystis , Continuous culture , Illumination , Wavelength , Growth rate