5. Maintenance of Algae(Microorganism,Lectures presented at the Seminar of Japanese Society for Research of Freezing and Drying : "Maintenance of Biological Genetic Resources")

Abstract

The number of algal strains collected in 40 collections of algae in 16 countries is about 11,000, which are classified into 3,000 species. The most strains are maintained by subculture. Specific temperature, light intensity requirements and medium phase are variable among strains. Some algae such as blue-green algae and chlorococcalean green algae can be preserved in liquid nitrogen. Viability is measured using Morris' or Hatano's method, but viablity measurement by intracellular enzyme activity such as FDA method cannot estimate the recovery potential. Culture collection should carry out purification of unialgal strains for promoting physiological and biological and biochemical studies of algae.