Morphological and Molecular Identification of Coccoid Green Microalgae Isolated from Fresh Water Lake of Bangalore, India

The use of molecular tools to aid identification of algal species has been promising in the case of morphologically challenging taxa. One such taxon is coccid green microalgae, for which we used 18S rDNA as a molecular marker for species level identification. The aim of the study was to isolate microalgae from a fresh water lake and identify the species on the basis of morphological and molecular techniques. To achieve this aim, water samples were collected from a suitable fresh water lake followed by isolation of pure microalgal species on BG-11 media, under optimized culture conditions. The morphological variations of green coccoid microalgae were observed under light microscope and the phylogenetic relationships of these strains were defined according to the 18S rRNA gene sequences. According to sequence analysis, 2 of the isolated species had high similarity to Coelastrella saipanensis (99%) and Ettlia texensis (99%). These microalgae were found to be potential candidates for the production of biodiesel and carotenoids.