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Comparison of monoculture and mixed culture (Scenedesmus obliquus and wild algae) for C, N, and P removal and lipid production

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Abstract

This study compared the efficiency of nutrient removal and lipid accumulation by a monoculture of Scenedesmus obliquus and mixed cultures of microalgae. The highest removal efficiencies of ammonium (99.2%), phosphate (91.2%), and total organic carbon (83.6%) occurred in the monoculture. All the mixed cultures were dominated by S. quadricauda; in some mixed cultures, the proportions of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and C. microsphaera reached > 20%. The lipid content and lipid production in the monoculture were 15.9% and 52.3 mg kg−1, respectively, significantly higher than those in all the mixed cultures of microalgae. In all the mixed cultures, the proportion of palmitic acid was > 50%. The results suggest that the monoculture had advantages over the mixed culture of microalgae in terms of nutrient removal and lipid production.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. Ming Li is funded as a Tang Scholar by the Cyrus Tang Foundation and Northwest A&F University. We thank Catherine Dandie, PhD, from Liwen Bianji, Edanz Editing China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the CRSRI Open Research Program (CKWV2017532/KY), the Scientific Research and Service Platform fund of Henan Province (2016151), the Scientific and Technological Innovation Team of Water Ecological Security for Water Source Region of Mid-line of South-to-North Diversion Project of Henan Province (17454), and the State-level Public Welfare Scientific Research Institutes Basic Scientific Research Business Project of China (CKSF2017062/SH).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Eco-hydraulics in Northwest Arid Region, Xi’an University of Technology, No. 5 Jinhuananlu, Xi’an, 710048, People’s Republic of China

    Zhi Qu

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center of Water Security for Water Source Region of Mid-line of South-to-North Diversion Project of Henan Province, Nanyang Normal University, Nanyang, 473061, People’s Republic of China

    Pengfei Duan & Ming Li

  3. College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, People’s Republic of China

    Xubing Cao, Manli Liu & Ming Li

  4. Department of Water Environment Research, Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute, Wuhan, 430010, People’s Republic of China

    Li Lin

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  1. Zhi Qu
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Correspondence to Ming Li.

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Qu, Z., Duan, P., Cao, X. et al. Comparison of monoculture and mixed culture (Scenedesmus obliquus and wild algae) for C, N, and P removal and lipid production. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 20961–20968 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-05339-z

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