The Cultivation of Marine Phytoplankton
Maria G.S. Jutson, Richard K. Pipe and Carmelo R. Tomas
from: Microalgae: Current Research and Applications (Edited by: Maria-Nefeli Tsaloglou). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2016) Pages: 11-26.
Abstract
The isolation and cultivation of phytoplankton can be an essential, and also satisfying, process for studying microalgae, in detail. Most species reproduce asexually, therefore establishment of unique strains in culture is relatively straightforward. Within the context of this chapter, the term strain will be used to define a genetically homogenous clone propagated from an individual microalgal cell. In essence, individual cells are isolated and placed in a suitable environment for growth. However, the actual process of establishing permanent cultures involves many steps and can entail prolonged periods of time. The validity of using cultured cells, as a model for physiological function, requires that culture conditions should resemble the natural environment as closely as possible. This chapter will review methods for cell isolation, sterilization and culture maintenance conditions. We will go through the different types of culture methods, as well as the many and varied kinds of cell enumeration, which is key to culture maintenance read more ...
