The CCCryo Culture Collection of Cryophilic Algae as a valuable bioresource for algal biodiversity and for novel, industrially marketable metabolites

ABSTRACT

The CCCryo Culture Collection of Cryophilic Algae is a diverse bioresource of mainly cold-adapted microalgae from polar environments. It currently comprises 518 strains of 178 species in 101 genera. Most strains were isolated from field samples collected during seven polar expeditions, mainly to Svalbard (Norway) and Antarctica. Almost 90% of the strains are cryophilic, with 33% of all strains being psychrophilic (obligate cryophilic) representing the “true” snow algae and 56% being psychrotrophic (non-obligate cryophilic), comprising other snow and permafrost algae from cold habitats. There are also some cultures of mosses, cyanobacteria, fungi and bacteria from cold or thermal environments. These strains are publicly available and serve as a rare bioresource for fundamental studies as well as for the development of commercial products. Basic studies address taxonomic and phylogenetic as well as physiological questions and genome and transcriptome research, whereas applied studies mostly address the capabilities of cryophilic algae to produce commercially interesting products for markets like food, feed and supplements, cosmetics, tools for molecular biology and diagnostics or food processing. Examples of strains studied for the production of valuable polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids like EPA, secondary carotenoids like astaxanthin, ice-structuring proteins, cold-active enzymes, UV-absorbing mycosporine-like amino acids and extracellular polymeric substances as form stabilizers are given and discussed in the context of customers’ acceptance, legal regulations for specific markets, technical feasibility of an industrial production process, potential profit and chances for the successful development of a commercial product.

KEYWORDS:

• Extremophiles
• psychrophiles
• cold-adaptation
• snow algae
• cosmetics
• pigments
• polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)
• ice-structuring proteins
• cold-active enzymes
• food processing

Acknowledgments

I am specifically thankful to Günter R. Fuhr for having made numerous scientific voyages to Svalbard and the Antarctic and many invaluable experiences in the Arctic possible. I also would like to thank Hau U. Ling who advised me on snow algae and how to isolate single cells during our expedition together to Spitsbergen in 1999. I am also grateful to students and co-workers who used strains from the CCCryo biobank for their projects at our institute and with whom we obtained valuable results. References are given where appropriate.

Disclosure statement

In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and my ethical obligation as a researcher, I am reporting that I have no potential conflicts of interest to declare.

Notes

¹ For example the world-wide skin-care market volume was forecasted to reach 133 billion US-$ in 2019 (https://de.statista.com/themen/25/kosmetik/, accessed on 13 November 2019).

Additional information

Funding

This work, specifically the expeditions and the collection of the samples from which many isolates were derived, were partially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG under grants FU 345/6-2 and -3 and Le 1275/2-2 within the long-term priority programme SPP 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas.