Abstract
Selection of appropriate strains of microalgae that work well in local conditions is important for a establish algae-based production system. The general aim of this study was to isolate and identify native microalgae species for exploring its further potential applications. To achieve this aim, 25 samples were collected from different locations of western region of Saudi Arabia. Standard isolation and purification techniques were applied In vitro to obtain axenic cultures. Among the best performing isolates, seven predominant strains were chosen for characterization based on morphological and molecular features. Morphological observations and molecular markers analysis using internal transcribed spacer sequence (ITS) were performed. Moreover, phylogenetic relationship of these strains was constructed. According to the DNA sequence analysis of the seven isolates, they were belonged to six genera of Chlamydomonas, Dunaliella, Chlorococcum, Graesiella, Coelastrella and Chlorella. Screening the growth rates of all strains showed that Chlorella sorokiniana had the highest growth rate (0.180 day(-1)) and biomass productivity (150 mg.L-1.day(-1)). Whereas other strains showed comparable growth rates under same growth conditions. This study found that Chlorella sorokiniana UJ as robust species which holds a great potential to be used in different commercial and environmental applications. In conclusion the identification of microalgae is considered key step in microalgae-based industry. This work screened microalgae strains isolated from the local environment of Saudi Arabia. The best performing algal strains were selected to be identified and characterized to discover strains that can be utilized for mass cultivation. This study successfully isolated and identified seven local strains, most of them are already known with high biomass productivity (fast growers) and are considered as good candidate to serve as platform for many further applications.