Artificial light source selection in seaweed production: growth of seaweed and biosynthesis of photosynthetic pigments and soluble protein

Shitao Huang; Ke Li; Yaoru Pan; Yan Yu; Thomas Wernberg; Thibaut de Bettignies; Jiaping Wu; Chaosheng Zhou; Zhixing Huang; Xi Xiao

doi:10.7717/peerj.11351

Artificial light source selection in seaweed production: growth of seaweed and biosynthesis of photosynthetic pigments and soluble protein

PeerJ. 2021 May 11:9:e11351. doi: 10.7717/peerj.11351. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Shitao Huang^#¹, Ke Li^#¹, Yaoru Pan¹, Yan Yu¹, Thomas Wernberg², Thibaut de Bettignies^{2

3}, Jiaping Wu¹, Chaosheng Zhou⁴, Zhixing Huang⁴, Xi Xiao¹

Affiliations

¹ Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China.
² UWA Oceans Institute and School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia.
³ UMS 2006 Patrimoine Naturel (PatriNat), OFB-CNRS-MNHN, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France.
⁴ Zhejiang Mariculture Research Institute (Zhejiang Key Lab of Exploitation and Preservation of Coastal Bio-resource), Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Seaweed growth is often limited by light. Artificial light supply has been well studied in terrestrial agriculture, however, much less is known about its effect in seaweed aquaculture. In this study, the effects of four artificial light sources (white, red, green, and blue LEDs light) on a brown alga Sargassum fusiforme and a green alga Ulva pertusa were investigated. Seaweed growth, accumulation of photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a and carotenoid), and soluble protein were evaluated. White LED light was the optimal supplementary light when cultivating Ulva pertusa and Sargassum fusiforme, because it promoted seaweed growth while maintaining protein production. Meanwhile, red LED was unfavored in the cultivation of S. fusiforme, as it affected the seaweed growth and has a lower residual energy ratio underneath the water. LEDs would be a promising supplementary light source for seaweed cultivation.

Keywords: Light sources; Light-emitting diodes(leds); Pigment; Seaweed; Soluble protein.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (2018ZX07208-009), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 21876148 & 21677122), and the International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (grant no. 2015DFS01410). Thomas Wernberg was supported by the Australian Research Council (DP160100114). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.