Identification of culturable microalgae diversity in the River Nile in Egypt using enrichment media
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Date
2021-04-05
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Publisher
African Science Publications
Abstract
This study aimed to morphologically identify the highest possible microalgae biodiversity in a sample collected from the River Nile using the culture-based method. Water samples were cultured on the two commonly used media BG-11 and BBM media to obtain a broad spectrum of microalgae biodiversity. Likewise, the effects of nutrients concentration and vitamin supplements to BG-11 and BBM for supporting the maximum diversity of culturable microalgae were tested. Cell counts and morphology-based identification were conducted to evaluate the population diversity. A total of 35 species have been identified using the two media combined. The standard BG-11 and BBM media enriched 25 and 27 species, respectively, while the reduced nutrient concentration of BG-11 and BBM had a species richness of 19 and 24, respectively. The vitamin-enriched media each sustained BG-11+Vit (23) and BBM+Vit (20). We found that some algae species were uniquely identified on the reduced nutrient concentration or vitamin-enriched media. The results of this study report the current algae diversity in the Nile demonstrating that the usage of single-culture media for algal enrichment would result in underestimating the species richness. The diversity identified can be used as a reference for continuos monitoring of the River Nile microalgae diversity in Cairo.
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Keywords
River Nile, Freshwater, Biodiversity, Morphological identification, BG-11 medium, BBM medium
Citation
Amal A. Badr and Walid M. Fouad (2021). Identification of culturable microalgae diversity in the River Nile in Egypt using enrichment media. African Journal of Biological Sciences. 3(2), 50-64. doi: 10.33472/AFJBS.3.2.2021.50-64.