Can we determined the growth rate of certain microalage using the extracted chlorophyll a. I have read an article on this but the method is not clear ? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
yes you can. Plot the readings on a semi log graph to determine the log phase and as we do with cell count data substitute with chlorophyll values in the division rate formula to obtain growth rate
. 1993 Riemann, B., Lignell, R. & Laws, E. Time-course development of 14C specific activity of chlorophyll a, carbon, and proteins in algal cultures. Limnol. Oceanogr. 38: 96-111. - Might be of some help
Hi,
you can use chlorophyll concentration as a measure of population growth only if no chlorophyll-degrading conditions occured. For example, some heavy metals cause chlorophyll degradation or block chlorophyll systhesis thus the number of cells in population (population growth) can be less affected that chlorophyll content. In the case of microalgae, cells number or OD740 is most often used as a growth parameter.
Regards,
Anna
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