The potential of crude oil pollutant reduction by green alga Chlorella vulgaris and evaluation of the induced physiological responses

In recent years, one of the most major world concerns is environmental pollutants derived from industrial and social performances. Unfortunately, in oil productive countries such as Iran, the substance is one of the most principle environmental pollutants. In this study, the effect of crude oil on some of physiological responses of unicellular alga Chlorella vulgaris such as the rate of photosynthetic pigments, Chlorophyll and photosynthesis and the ability of the alga in degradation of the compound were evaluated. For increasing the algal biomass, after purification through plate agar method, the colonies were transferred to culture medium N8 .When the algal sample reached to logarithmic phase a carbonless culture medium was prepared and treated with 1% crude oil. Chlorophyll contents were calculated through spectrophotometrically, photosynthesis rates were evaluated with Oxyview instrument and degradation rate of crude oil were investigated by gas chromatography. The results showed that the algal growth rate has showed significant enhancement in crude oil whereas the most rates of chlorophyll and photosynthesis belonged to control. In addition the results implied that the alga Chlorella vulgaris was able to degrade a large amount of crude oil. This study demonstrated that the alga Chlorella vulgaris is a candidate to biodegrade the environmental pollutants such as oil pollutions.