The effects of L-carnitine levels on population growth of rotifer Brachionus plicatilis fed with Chlorella vulgaris

In this study, S-type rotifer Brachionus plicatilis were enriched with 10 levels (0, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100, 500, 1000 and 1500 mg L-carnitine per L) of L-carnitine supplements dissolved in Chlorella vulgaris culture medium in a 10 mL individual culture trial for 7 days. The initial rotifer density was 1 individual mL-1. The trials were conducted to 200×06 cell mL-1 at food density at 25±1ºC under an axenic condition in the laboratory. L-carnitine enrichment has shown considerable influence on the population growth of rotifer Brachionus plicatilis. As a result, the maximum number of individuals was determined as 1560 ± 10.00 rot./mL in the group enriched with 100 mg/L L-carnitine supplement and the lowest number of individuals was determined 376.67±25.17 rot./mL in the group enriched with 1500 mg/L L-carnitine addition (p<0.05). The maximum growth rate was found to be 0.63±0.02 rot/ day in the group enriched with 100 mg/L L-carnitine addition (p<0.05). The maximum doubling time was 1.31±0.02 rot./ day for the group enriched with 1000 mg/L L-carnitine (p<0.05). The results suggested that L-carnitine could be a positive factor to enhance reproduction and population growth on enriched Brachionus plicatilis under the optimum concentration.