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Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Kuwait, P.O. Box 5969, Kuwait

ABSTRACT

Chemical analyses of brine ponds in the Al-Khiran area were carried out. The salinity of the ponds was found to be approximately four times that of sea water. A red form of Dunaliella sp. was found to grow in these ponds under extreme conditions of high light intensities (1700 µE m^-2s^-1), high temperature (50°C) and high ranges of salinities (up to saturation and crystallization of salts). Changes in the pigmentation occurred upon transfer of the organisms from field to laboratory conditions. The effect of various concentrations of NaNO₃, NH₄Cl, Ca(NO₃)₂, NH₄NO₃  , and NaCl on the growth of Dunaliella sp. was studied.