Cultivation and Harvesting of Dinoflagellates

Cultures of G. polyedra (L. polyedrum) are grown at 20 5°C in a supplemented sea water medium (Hastings and Sweeney, 1957 Hastings and Dunlap, 1986), under cool-white fluorescent lighting of a 12-hr light/12-hr dark cycle. The cultures are inoculated at densities of 100 to 500 cells/ml. After 2-4 weeks, cells are harvested by vacuum filtration on a filter paper at cell densities of 7,000-15,000 cells/ml, yielding 0.3-0.7 g wet cells per liter of culture. 

Pyrocystis lunula (clone T37) can be grown under light-dark cycles as well as under continuous illumination at 20 2°C, in f/2 medium (Guillard and Ryther, 1962) with 0.5% soil extract instead of silicate (Guillard, 1974). The growth is somewhat slower and harvesting may be carried out about 40 days after inoculation, at a cell density of 15,000-20,000 cells/ml. 

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