Microalgal

E. W. Becker, Microalgae for Human and Animal Consumption, In M. A. Borowitzka and L. J. Borowitzka (eds.), Microalgal Biotechnology, Cambridge University press, Cambridge, 1998. 

E. W. Becker, Microalgal Biotechnology and Microbiology, Cambridge University Press, Cambride, 1994. 

In a similar way, microalgal biomass on the sediment surface can be estimated by measuring the chlorophyll contents in benthic microalgae, which are single-celled microscopic plants that inhabit the top 0 to 3 cm of a sediment surface and are sometimes referred to as microphytobenthos. These organisms are the primary food resources of benthic grazers such as shellfish and numerous finfish species. 

Synthetic pigments traditionally used by food processors continue to be utilized with success however, with the increasing consumer preference for natural food additives, natural colorants from plants now present big business and most of the research efforts within the scientific field of colorants are conducted on natural materials. Among microalgal production methods, marine background is a very positive aspect in the success of P-carotene produced by Dunaliella salina. 

Sommer, T.R., Pott, W., and Morrissy, N.M., Utilization of microalgal astaxanthin by rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), Aquaculture, 94, 79, 1991. 

Katircioglu, Hikmet, Beril S. Akin, and Tahir Atici. "Microalgal Toxin(s) Characteristics and Importance." African Journal of Biotechnology 3 (2004) 667-74. 

Hirano, A., Hon-Nami, K., Kunito, S., Hada, M., and Ogushi, T. (1998). Temperature Effect on Continuous Gasification of Microalgal Biomass Theoretical Yield of Methanol Production and its Energy Balance, Catalysis Today 45. pp. 399-404. 

Shimizu Y, Gupta S, Masuda K, Maranda L, Walker CK, Wang R (1989) Dinoflagellate and other microalgal toxins chemistry and biochemistry. Pure Appl Chem 61 513-516 Sieburth JM, Conover JT (1965) Sargassum tannon, an antibiotic which retards fouling. Nature 208 52-53... 

Shimizu Y (2003) Microalgal metabolites. Curr Opin Microbiol 6 236-243 Smit AJ (2004) Medicinal and pharmaceutical uses of seaweed natural products a review. J Appl Phycol 16 245-262... 

The fate of DMSP generated by macroalgae is not well known however, the role of microalgal DMSP in oceanic and atmospheric sulfur cycles has been well studied. Macroalgal DMSP likely undergoes many of the same processes as microalgal... 

Scheffer M, Rinaldi S, Eluisman J, Weissing FJ (2003) Why plankton communities have no equilibrium solutions to the paradox. Hydrobiologia 491 9-18 Sellner KG, Doucette GJ, Kirkpatrick GJ (2003) Harmful algal blooms causes, impacts and detection. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 30 383 106 Shimizu Y (1993) Microalgal metabolites. Chem Rev 93 1685-1698... 

Finally, Chaps. 13 and 14 both review other areas of macroalgal and microalgal chemical ecology that have been studied to some extent for a number of years but which are both active areas of current research. Chapter 13 focuses on the multiple ways in which algae utilize defensive compounds to limit damage from ultraviolet radiation. Chapter 14 reviews studies of the behavioral sensory ecology of algae, which is very much understudied in comparison to such work on terrestrial and aquatic animals. 

Most microalgal toxicity tests procedures recommend the use of initial cellular concentrations of 104 cells mL 1. This cellular concentration should be selected because it is the minimum cellular concentration that can be measured in haematocytometers (Neubauer chambers). Furthermore, natural cellular concentrations in non-polluted conditions (in marine environments) are often below the concentration mentioned. The importance of cellular density at the beginning of the test has been demonstrated for certain toxicants [43]. The lower the cellular concentration, the higher the sensitivity of the test, at least for certain types of xenobiotics, such as heavy metals. 

Accordingly, the use of flow cytometry can improve the design of toxicity bioassays, as the detection limit of this apparatus includes cellular concentrations equal to those of microalgal populations found in natural conditions. Comparison of compositions utilised in some known toxicity tests for microalgaes are shown in Table 7.1.1. 

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