P. delicatissima strain (cell length ≈ 45 μm) was isolated from
the seawater fueling the sea bass fish farm (Aquanord S.A., Southern
North Sea, France), and identified using SEM (Scanning Electron
Microscopy, LEO 438 VP) following the criteria defined by Lundholm
et al. (2006). P. delicatissima cells were maintained in monospecific
non-axenic conditions in f/2 medium (Guillard, 1975) at 12.0 ± 0.5 °C
with a 12 h:12 h light:dark cycle (130 μmol photons m−2 s−1, Lumilux
Vario FM 1W/730 blanc BE, Osram) and gently manually-agitated once
a day.