Isolation, physiochemical characterization and cultivation of salt tolerant microalgal species from marakkanam salt pan, tamil nadu, india

The present work deals with the Salt water samples and biodiversity of Salt Tolerant Microalgal Species from Marakkanam Salt Pan, Tamil Nadu, India. Salt-loving microorganisms are called halophiles. They include fungi, diatoms, bacteria, algae and cyanobacteria. Microalgae are classified based on the production of pigmentation, namely the chlorophytes or green algae (chlorophyll a and b), the rhodophytes or red algae (chlorophyll a and phycobilins), and chromophytes or yellow-brown algae (chlorophyll a, c, and absence of chlorophyll b). Halophilic microorganisms are balance their cytoplasm osmotically with accumulation of molar concentrations of potassium and chloride. Salt which act as a substrate for intracellular enzymatic process. The sample collection was made during winter season in the month of November, 2017. The samples were subjected to physico - chemical analysis, microalgae were examined in the algal biotechnology laboratory, university of madras and identified the following algae Navicula sp., Spirogyra sp., Phormidium sp., Oscillatoria sp., Stauroneis sp., Lyngbya sp.,Cymbella sp., Nitzschia sp., Nostoc sp., Amphora sp., Anabaena sp., Placoneis sp., Tolypothrix sp., Chroococcus sp., and Haematococcus sp.were recorded. Algae are described with photographs.