Development of a Portable Incubation Chamber for Microalgae using Light Emitting Diodes

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It is fundamental to establish clonal cultures from various part of world for study on biological, ecophysiological and biochemical features of harmful marine microalgae which are thought to have spread globally. But the culture establishment is sometimes difficult, because areas affected by the harmful microalgae are often under-developed coastal area and far from sophisticated laboratories equipped with culturing facilities.This study aimed to develop a Portable incubation chamber furnishing temperature and light control devices. The light resource is obtained by Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and it poses many advantages on its smaller size, safety and low electric consumption. Various dinoflagellates and diatoms shows smooth growth comparable to natural light under red, green and blue lights from the LEDs. A dmoflagellate Heterocapsa cocularisquama grows well under red light, and Alexandrium spp under blue light. Different species shows small variation on optimum light condition (strength and color) for the highest growth rate, and it may come from difference of adaptability of species to lights from LEDs. Optimal spectra output in the region of photosynthetic pigment absorption should be found to use the very narrow spectrum output of LEDs. While the temperature could be regulated at a desired temperature between 10 and 30 degree in Celsius using a Peltiert module with a thermo controller, necessary electrical power is high and continuous use of the regulator may cause problem on the capacity of the chamber and maintenance cost of a battery. From these result a chamber (30x20x20 cm) was successfully made and used with good results for transfer of microalgae from the Philippines and Thailand to Japan. This portable incubation chamber enables the maintenance of living cells during handling and field work so that more cultures of harmful microalgae can be established from much wider location.