National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
Random mutagenesis has for long been used as a tool to genetically modify organisms for various purposes, such as increasing biomass yield or yield of specific biomolecules or improved adaptation to cultivation conditions. Random mutagenesis is especially attractive for systems where it is not obvious which genes require modification and has been extensively used to beneficially modify crop plants. However, even with the renewed interest in microalgae for biofuel applications, there is relatively little current research available on the application of random mutagenesis in microalgae. In this research project we used the chemical mutagen NTG - N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine in the medium that the thraustochytrid alga Schizochytrium limacinum was grown and algae that survived the mutagenesis were cultured and analysed for lipid production. One mutagenic strain of the alga was found to grow well and produced 30% more lipid than the control which was not exposed to NTG. This proves that random mutagenesis can be an important tool in the hands of algal scientists who are looking to improve productivity of biomolecules in specific algae.
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