Algal biomass production in different types of wastewaters under extreme conditions of light and temperature

Microalgae have been considered as a potential feedstock for biomaterial compounds production. In the southern Mediterranean region, which suffers from water scarcity, using wastewaters as culture media for microalgae cultivation is recommended. Hence, an algal strain is needed, which exhibits high growth under the prevailing temperature and light conditions. To obtain such strains, natural samples were collected from a maturation pond in the Peri-Urban Area of Marrakech (Morocco) and cultivated in different types of wastewaters at light intensity of 1,500 mu mol m(-2) s(-1) and temperature up to 45 degrees C in a batch system. Three types of wastewaters were used: raw, treated, not sterilized treated domestic wastewater from muti-soil layering system and tap water, started with the same concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus. Results showed Chlorella was the only strain able to grow under the cultivation conditions established. This microalgae was identified by partial rbcL-gene as Chlorella sorokiniana with a genetic similarity of 98.8%, and registered under UCAM 001 (GenBank number MT999855). This finding indicates that the strain can be used for biomass production and phycoremediation process in semi-arid area. In addition, microalgae isolation by dominance could be a fast approach to obtain adapted strains for outdoor mass cultivation.