雨生红球藻和虾青素研究述评

REVIEW OF STUDIES OF HAEMATOCOCCUS PLUVIALIS AND ITS ASTAXANTHIN

虾青素作为食品和饲料色素添加剂有着广阔的应用前景，单细胞绿藻雨生红球藻在特定条件下可以大量积累虾青素，有可能成为该色素的良好天然资源，受到微藻学界的重视。但目前雨生红球藻培养还处于实验室阶段，大规模生产尚存在许多问题有待解决，我国这方面的研究处于起步阶段。为此通过微机查阅了1981－1997年的国内外发表的有关文献，结合我们的实验结果，从该藻的基础生物学特性、虾青素累积的机制、养殖现状进行了综述，并就存在的问题、发展前景和方向提出了看法。

As a good colorant, astxanthin (3,3'-dihydroxy-4,4'-diketo beta carotene) isand will be widely used in aquaculture industry (especially as a feed supplementin the culture of salmon, trout and shrimp), in cosmetic making and victual processing. The limited production of astaxanthin at present can not meet the growingdemand, which therefore drives scientists in a number of countries to find newalternatiyc sources. Haematococcus pluvialis, a biflagelated unicellular green alga, isconsidered as the potent producer of astxanthin because of its ability to accumulatesigniflcant amounts of this pigment while exposured to certain culture conditions.Studies of culturing Haematococcus for natural astaxanthin on laboratory scale become a hot research area with more than 60 articles pub1ished since 1981 althoughfew involved in pilot. Based on all the approaches and with the purpose of promoting the culture of Haematococcus, we review some aspects of this alga, coveringits biological characteristics, cell reproduction ways and their capacity, cell cycleand its regulation, astaxanthin accumulation and its pliysiological fullctioll, culturetechniques and so on. At the end of the paper, some other work expected and theexisting problems blocking further exploitation processes snth as contaminationcontrol, speed up cell growth, development of computer-controlled photobioreactortechniques) are discussed also.