The Nutritional and Pharmacological Potential of New Australian Thraustochytrids Isolated from Mangrove Sediments

• Published in: Marine drugs Vol. 18; no. 3; p. 151
• Main Authors: Nham Tran, Thi Linh, Miranda, Ana F, Gupta, Adarsha, Puri, Munish, Ball, Andrew S, Adhikari, Benu, Mouradov, Aidyn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 06.03.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Astaxanthin; aurantiochytrium; Australia; Biomass; Biomolecules; Buffer zones; Cakes; Carbohydrates; Carbon; Carotene; Carotenoids; Carotenoids - chemistry; Carotenoids - pharmacology; Cell growth; Climate change; Cosmetics; Cyanobacteria; Docosahexaenoic acid; Ecosystem; Emulsions; eps; Extracellular; fame; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated - chemistry; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated - pharmacology; Food; Functional foods & nutraceuticals; Geologic Sediments - chemistry; Glycerol; Industry; Lipids; Lipids - chemistry; Lipids - pharmacology; Mangroves; Marine ecosystems; Microalgae - chemistry; Microorganisms; oil body; Pharmacology; Phylogeny; Phytoplankton; Polysaccharides; Polysaccharides - chemistry; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Proteins; Protists; Raw materials; Rhizophoraceae - chemistry; Sediment; Sediments; Squalene; Stramenopiles - chemistry; β-Carotene; Australia; carbohydrates; lipids; FAME; Aurantiochytrium; carotenoids; protists; EPS; oil body; squalene
• ISSN: 1660-3397; 1660-3397
• DOI: 10.3390/md18030151

Mangrove sediments represent unique microbial ecosystems that act as a buffer zone, biogeochemically recycling marine waste into nutrient-rich depositions for marine and terrestrial species. Marine unicellular protists, thraustochytrids, colonizing mangrove sediments have received attention due to their ability to produce large amounts of long-chain ω3-polyunsaturated fatty acids. This paper represents a comprehensive study of two new thraustochytrids for their production of valuable biomolecules in biomass, de-oiled cakes, supernatants, extracellular polysaccharide matrixes, and recovered oil bodies. Extracted lipids (up to 40% of DW) rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (up to 80% of total fatty acids) were mainly represented by docosahexaenoic acid (75% of polyunsaturated fatty acids). Cells also showed accumulation of squalene (up to 13 mg/g DW) and carotenoids (up to 72 µg/g DW represented by astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, echinenone, and β-carotene). Both strains showed a high concentration of protein in biomass (29% DW) and supernatants (2.7 g/L) as part of extracellular polysaccharide matrixes. Alkalinization of collected biomass represents a new and easy way to recover lipid-rich oil bodies in the form of an aqueous emulsion. The ability to produce added-value molecules makes thraustochytrids an important alternative to microalgae and plants dominating in the food, pharmacological, nutraceutical, and cosmetics industries.