Home • Scenedesmus obliquus EN0004 v1.0
Micrograph of Scenedesmus obliquus EN0004
On the upper left side are cells with one four-celled coenobium visible coming from regular growth conditions, and on the lower right side are cells from stressed conditions, where the cells become chlorotic and accumulate oil bodies in the cytosol. Photo credit: Juergen Polle.
EN0004 oil content screening
Comparison of triacylglycerol (TAG) content between Scenedesmus obliquus EN0004 and other algal strains based on Nile Red screening. Photo credit: Juergen Polle.

The strain EN0004 (UTEX 3155) was isolated in 2009 by the Polle laboratory at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. This strain is oleaginous and can accumulate triacylglycerols to more than 25% of its biomass. EN0004 was partially described in Neofotis et al. (2016) and successful outdoor testing in raceway type ponds at the NAABB testbed facility at Pecos, TX was reported by Lammers et al. (2017).

The coccoid green alga Scenedesmus obliquus (Turpin) Kützing belongs to the class of the Chlorophyceae and the order of the Sphaeropleales. This species is also synonymously referred to as Acutodesmus obliquus (Turpin) Hegewald and Hanagata, with the currently accepted name as Tetradesmus obliquus (Turpin) M.J. Wynne [NCBI Taxonomy].

This species is ubiquitous in freshwater environments and the strain EN0004 originated from a water sample from the Delaware river. Mostly cells are ovate and have pointy ends, but no spines are found in this species. Depending on the growth conditions, the cell morphology can vary. One can find single cells, coenobia of two cells, or coenobia made up of four to eight cells.

References

  1. Peter Neofotis, Andy Huang, William Chang, Floral Joseph, Juergen E.W. Polle (2016) Microalgae Strain Isolation, Screening, and Identification for Biofuels and High-Value Products. Chapter 3 in 1st Edition of Microalgal Production for Biomass and High-Value Products. Editors Stephen P. Slocombe and John R. Benemann, CRC Press, Boca Raton. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/b19464.
  2. Lammers P.J., Huesemann M., Boeing W., Anderson D.B., Arnold R.G., Bai X., Bhole M., (...), Olivares J.A. (2017) Review of the cultivation program within the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts. Algal Research, 22, pp. 166-186. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2016.11.021.