Random- Mutagenesis in Photosynthetic Microorganisms Further Selected with Respect to Increased Lipid Content

Abstract In the last decade there is an increased interest in selecting photosynthetic microorganisms with higher lipid content useful for biotechnological applications. In this paper we present our original results concerning: i) the selection of naturally occurring photosynthetic microorganisms with higher lipid content; ii) the use of these isolates as biological material subject of randomly induced mutagenesis; iii) selection by iodine vapour method of clones with decreased polysaccharides content and expected higher lipid content) as well as iv) genetic analysis of most promising strains in order to check the if they are true mutants or not. The results thus obtained argue the importance of the selection of naturally occurring photosynthetic microorganisms with higher lipid content as well as the use of random mutagenesis as a valuable tool to improve the genetic diversity of photosynthetic microorganisms in order to increase their ability to synthesize lipids for further biodiesel production and/or omega 3 or 6 production.