Physiological and Ecological Aspects of Chlorella sorokiniana (Trebouxiophyceae) Under Photoautotrophic and Mixotrophic Conditions.

Mixotrophy is a metabolic strategy in which an organism is autotrophic and heterotrophic simultaneously. Considering that the aquatic environment provides several organic sources of carbon, it is probably common for microalgae to perform mixotrophy and not only photoautotrophy, but little is known about microalgae mixotrophy. The present work aimed at investigating the growth, photosynthetic activity, morphology, and biochemical composition of the microalga Chlorella sorokiniana in mixotrophic and photo-mixotrophic conditions, comparing it with photoautotrophy.