Decostere Bjorge, Coppens Joeri, Vervaeren Han, Vlaeminck Siegfried E, Gelder Leen De, Boon Nico, Nopens Ingmar, Hulle Stijn W H Van
a LIWET, Department of Industrial Biological Sciences , Ghent University Campus Kortrijk, Kortrijk , Belgium.
b BIOMATH, Department of Mathematical Modelling , Statistics and Bioinformatics, Ghent University , Ghent , Belgium.
J Environ Sci Health A Tox Hazard Subst Environ Eng. 2017 Dec 6;52(14):1303-1311. doi: 10.1080/10934529.2017.1364921. Epub 2017 Sep 26.
In this study, a recently developed model accounting for intracellular nitrate storage kinetics was thoroughly studied to understand and compare the storage capacity of Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Amphora coffeaeformis. In the first stage the identifiability of the biokinetic parameters was examined. Next, the kinetic model was calibrated for both microalgal species based on experimental observations during batch growth experiments. Two kinetic parameters were calibrated, namely the maximum specific growth rate [Formula: see text] and the nitrate storage rate ([Formula: see text]). A significant difference was observed for the nitrate storage rate between both species. For P. tricornutum, the nitrate storage rate was much higher ([Formula: see text] = 0.036 m g DW d) compared to A. coffeaeformis ([Formula: see text] = 0.0004 m g DW d). This suggests that P. tricornutum has a more efficient nitrate uptake ability and intracellular nitrate storage capacity and also indicates the need for determination of [Formula: see text] in order to quantify nitrate storage.
