This is for those Phyto experts out there

[BanZI29]

Besides shape and size, what is the difference between Thalassiosira weissfloggii and Thalassiosira pseudonana.
I am debating on which one to grow, I had Thalassiosira weissfloggii and I contaminated it, and it is hard to find to restart.
I tried Google Sensei but really didnt find anything conclusive.
I HEARD that there is no nutritional difference. What do you all think?

 

[BanZI29]

Thalassiosira pseudonana

Thalassiosira weissflogii

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I HEARD that there is no nutritional difference.

They'll be some slight nutritional differences (most of them would probably be super technical, such as which specific fatty acids are found in what percentages in each), but it's really difficult to measure the actual nutritional contents of various phytos because a ton of really small, hard to control variables impact the quality - as a result, a lot of phytos even of the same species will have considerably different nutrition profiles due to their different growing conditions (and those of previous generations).

That said, the only other difference I currently am aware of is that they handle strong lighting and nitrogen deprivation differently:

Physiological responses of the diatoms Thalassiosira weissflogii and Thalassiosira pseudonana to nitrogen starvation and high light - PubMed

As oceans warm, the depth of the upper mixed layer is predicted to decrease, resulting in insufficient nutrient supply and higher solar radiation for phytoplankton. In order to understand the photophysiological responses of the key eukaryotic phytoplankton diatoms to high light and nutrient...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov