Optimizing the Cultivation Conditions of Fischerella sp. SH.A Cyanobacterium for Maximizing Polysaccharide Production with Antibacterial Activity

Among the photosynthetic microorganisms, cyanobacteria belonging to the genus Fischerella appear particularly promising for new polysaccharides producing strains. Extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) serve as a boundary to the immediate environment and play a protective role against antimicrobial agents. That iswhy cyanobacteria are so popular in the industry today as thickeners or floating agents, heavy metal absorbers, or in the case of sulfate polysaccharides as bioactive substances. This is an advantage over other polysaccharides extracted from plants or other macroalgae. There are many factors  affecting cell growth and metabolite accumulation in cell cultures. However, there is insufficient knowledge about the factors affecting maximal EPS biosynthesis and antibacterial activity. In this regard, in this paper, the effect of some physical, environmental, and nutritional factors on the simultaneous production of exopolysaccharide by Fischerella sp. SH.A was investigated in order to select the best cultivation conditions for the industrial application of exopolysaccharides.

In this study, the cyanobacterium isolated from the fresh water of Golestan province was undertaken with the aim of investigating the key factors regulating EPS biosynthesis and antibacterial activity. After the morphological and molecular identification, the possible correlations between the type of stress and the amount of polysaccharides production were also investigated.

The obtained results indicated that EPS production and antibacterial activity were highly dependent on the culture conditions and light intensity. Furthermore, the production of exopolysaccharides in non-diastrophic conditions was highly correlated with the concentration of nitrate up to 500 mM and the illumination of 50 or 150 microeinsteins per second per square meter. 

Discussion and conclusion:

Since cyanobacterial extracellular polysaccharides are interesting from the biotechnological point of view, considering some other parameters are of crucial importance for the maximization of EPS production in this genus.