ABSTRACT
Algae are economically important as sources of food, fertilizer, agar, pot ash, and iodine (Day et al. 1999). Production of valuable biochemicals from algae is on the rise. The successful commercial production of βcarotene as a health food from the green microalga Dunaliella and the production of phycoerythrin as a diagnostic marker (Phycofluor) from red microalgae are just two examples (Dupre et al. 1995, Jin and Melis 2003, Ben-Amotz 2004). The algae-based bio-industry is developing rap idly, the driving force being the trend of the market toward natural-and away from synthetic-products.
