Glycerol production by Dunaliella species in saline waste water treatment

In recent years, much research has focused on Algal High Rate Oxidation Ponds as both an economic means for wastewater treatment and as a system for the mass production of algae.With the advent of these systems for the treatment of saline organic effluents, the extreme halophile, Dunaliella salina was considered. In this study, the growth and productivity of a number of Dunaliella species (and strains thereof) was evaluated in hide soak liquor tannery effluent.Hide soak liquor, diluted to 20% with water, proved to be highly suitable as a growth medium for the majority of the Dunaliella species under study and in some instances, resulted in enhanced growth rates and higher biomass yields compared to those obtained in defined inorganic medium. A few Dunaliella species failed to grow in this effluent. A correlation was observed between the lack of growth displayed by these species in this organio-rich mediumand their failure to utilise organic compounds. Glycine, a major component of this effluent, possibly stimulates the growth of Dunaliella. Studies on the mechanism of growth stimulation by glycine revealed that an algal-bacterial relationship existed whereby the bacteria mineralised the amino acid, releasing ammonia which was then utilised by the alga.Results of this work revealed significant variations in the intracellular glycerol content amongst the Dunaliella species under study. Large differences were also observed between the glycerol contents of effluent-grown and control Dunaliella cells, where the effluent-grown cells were characterised by greatly reduced intracellular glycerol content. These reduced glycerol levels are assumed to have arisen from the glycine-induced stimulation of glycerol release which was observed in this study, where the high glycine content of the hide soak liquor is proposed tohave induced glycerol release. This enhanced glycerol release in tatmery effluent could play a central role in the fimction of Dunaliella-based High Rate Oxidation Ponding systems, by stimulating bacterial activity. Observed glycerol productivities were therefore proposed to be a fimction of the type and concentration of the organic constituents of the medium. A similar medium-induced phenomenon was observed in the starch content of Dunaliella cells.