Effect of Nitrogen Concentration on Growth and Fatty Acid Composition in the Freshwater Diatom Stephanocyclus meneghinianus
- 1K.A. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology RAS, IPP RAS, 127276 Moscow, Russia
- 2Faculty of Biology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119234 Moscow, Russia
Abstract
Microalgae can alter their growth rate and metabolic pathways in response to nutrient concentration in the medium, particularly nitrogen, one of their most important components. Novel freshwater diatom strains of Stephanocyclus meneghinianus (M418 and M456) were discovered in Moscow, Russia. Analysis was based on morphological characters, 18S rDNA and rbcL phylogeny, and the impact of changes in nitrogen concentration (from 0 to 0.6 g N/L) in WC medium on growth and total fatty acid composition. The results demonstrated that increasing nitrogen content in the nutrient medium stimulates culture growth. Strain M418 exhibited sustained exponential growth across all conditions, while strain M456 showed a clear transition to stationary phase, highlighting fundamental differences in their growth strategies. Principal component analysis underscored that strain M418 possesses a distinct and more strongly nitrogen-responsive fatty acid profile compared to strain M456. The main fatty acids for both strains were palmitic, palmitoleic, myristic, and eicosapentaenoic acids. The findings indicate that high nitrogen concentration is optimal for monounsaturated fatty acid accumulation, whereas nitrogen starvation stimulates that of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Related
- Freshwater Blackworms Solving a Maze
- A global mitochondrial genomic atlas illuminates freshwater microeukaryote diversity
- Divergent transcriptional responses of conserved cellular machinery to warming and phosphorus limitation in freshwater phytoplankton
- Nano-chelated nitrogen improves in vitro shoot growth of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) as a novel nitrogen source
- Interpretable Deep Learning of Endogenous Fluorophore Concentration and Entropy for Lung Tissue Classification
BibTeX
@article{selezneva2026effect,
title = {{Effect of Nitrogen Concentration on Growth and Fatty Acid Composition in the Freshwater Diatom Stephanocyclus meneghinianus}},
author = {Anna Selezneva and Maria Gololobova and Zinaida Krivova and Elena Kezlya and Maxim Kulikovskiy and Alexander Starikov and Yevhen Maltsev},
journal = {International Journal of Molecular Sciences},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/ijms27209030},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/20/9030},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Effect of Nitrogen Concentration on Growth and Fatty Acid Composition in the Freshwater Diatom Stephanocyclus meneghinianus
AU - Anna Selezneva
AU - Maria Gololobova
AU - Zinaida Krivova
AU - Elena Kezlya
AU - Maxim Kulikovskiy
AU - Alexander Starikov
AU - Yevhen Maltsev
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
DO - 10.3390/ijms27209030
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/27/20/9030
AB - Microalgae can alter their growth rate and metabolic pathways in response to nutrient concentration in the medium, particularly nitrogen, one of their most important components. Novel freshwater diatom strains of Stephanocyclus meneghinianus (M418 and M456) were discovered in Moscow, Russia. Analysis was based on morphological characters, 18S rDNA and rbcL phylogeny, and the impact of changes in nitrogen concentration (from 0 to 0.6 g N/L) in WC medium on growth and total fatty acid composition. The results demonstrated that increasing nitrogen content in the nutrient medium stimulates culture growth. Strain M418 exhibited sustained exponential growth across all conditions, while strain M456 showed a clear transition to stationary phase, highlighting fundamental differences in their growth strategies. Principal component analysis underscored that strain M418 possesses a distinct and more strongly nitrogen-responsive fatty acid profile compared to strain M456. The main fatty acids for both strains were palmitic, palmitoleic, myristic, and eicosapentaenoic acids. The findings indicate that high nitrogen concentration is optimal for monounsaturated fatty acid accumulation, whereas nitrogen starvation stimulates that of polyunsaturated fatty acids.
SN - 1422-0067
ER -