Haematococcus lacustris (Hla)

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[Photo from Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa – Scotland, United Kingdom]


Haematococcus lacustris (AlgaeBase) is a freshwater species of Chlorophyta from the family Haematococcaceae. It is currently regarded as a synonym of Haematococcus pluvialis. This species is well known for its high content of the strong antioxidant astaxanthin, which is important in aquaculture, and cosmetics. The high amount of astaxanthin is present in the resting cells, which are produced and rapidly accumulated when the environmental conditions become unfavorable for normal cell growth. Examples of such conditions include bright light, high salinity, and low availability of nutrients. H. lacustris is usually found in temperate regions around the world. Their resting cysts are often responsible for the blood-red colour seen in the bottom of dried out rock pools and bird baths. This colour is caused by astaxanthin which is believed to protect the resting cysts from the detrimental effect of UV-radiation, when exposed to direct sunlight. [From Wikipedia]

The experimental samples used for this species can be found in Data S7 of our supplementary data.



Sequences (28279)