Nitrogren-starvation may affect lipid accumulation in hours, not days, says Florida study

In Florida, lipid accumulation in algal cells begins only hours after they are starved of nitrogen, according to a new study from the University of Florida’s horticultural sciences department. The findings, which also found that 30% of lipids produced under nitrogen stress occurred as the membrane began to degrade inside each cell, has altered the previous assumption that nitrogen stress only affects lipid accumulation for algae after several days. The next step for the researchers is to begin looking at genes and proteins involved during the cellular-stress stage, said professor Bala Rathinasabapathi.

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