A new species of reddish pigment-producing microalga was recently
isolated in tropical Taiwan. This new species was further
characterised and some important traits are presented here. This
microalga is able to withstand temperatures over 50 C for more
than 8 h and produces pigments including astaxanthin, lutein, canthaxanthin
and b-carotene (ordered by polarity of these compounds)
after the cells are stressed for a period of time. With
these characteristics this microalga could be used to produce natural
pigments on a large scale in the tropical world.
sodium, and 1.75 M urea. This mixture was incubated at 65 C for
10 min and centrifuged at 16,000g at 25 C for 5 min. The supernatant
was transferred to a new tube, and 0.5 mL of phenol/chloroform
(1:1) was added to this tube. After mixing to denature
proteins, the tube was centrifuged again in the above conditions.
The upper phase was transferred to a new tube, and an equal volume
of cold isopropanol was mixed into the supernatant. After
incubation at room temperature for 10 min, this tube was centrifuged
again in the above conditions. The supernatant was discarded,
and the pellet was rinsed with 70% ethanol twice and
dried in the air. The pellet was dissolved in 50 lL of TE buffer containing
RNase.