Effects of light quality and intensity on phycobiliprotein productivity in two Leptolyngbya strains isolated from southern Bahia’s Atlantic Forest

Abstract

Cyanobacterial phycocyanin and phycoerythrin are gaining commercial interest due to their nutrition and healthcare values. This research analyzed the biomass accumulation and pigment production of two strains of Leptolyngbya under different combinations of light colors and intensities. The results showed that while Leptolyngbya sp.4 B1 (B1) produced all phycobiliproteins, Leptolyngbya sp.5 F2 (F2) only had phycocyanin and allophycocyanin. Both the color of the light and its light intensity affect the biomass accumulation and phycoerythrin concentration in strain B1. Although white light at medium intensity (50 μmol m^-2 s^-1) causes greater biomass accumulation (1.66 ± 0.13 g_DW L^-1), low-intensity (25 μmol m^-2 s^-1) green light induces lower biomass accumulation with twice the pigment content (87.70 ± 2.46 mg g_DW ^-1), culminating in 71% greater productivity. In contrast, for the F2 strain, light intensity positively influenced biomass and pigment accumulation, being observed 2.25 ± 0.10 g_DW L^-1 under white light at 100 μmol m^-2 s^-1 and higher phycocyanin concentration (138.38 ± 3.46 mg g_DW ^-1) under red light at 100 μmol m^-2 s^-1. These findings provide insights into optimizing the growth conditions by altering the intensity and wavelength of light for future production of phycocyanin and phycoerythrin from local cyanobacteria.

Key words
Biodiversity; light effects; phycocyanin; phycoerythrin