Modified strains of chlorella vulgaris and method of production

A method of producing a modified strain of Chlorella vulgaris having a chlorophyll content in a range of 0.001 to 0.5 mg/g dry cell weight, wherein the method comprises:

• a) obtaining a parental strain of Chlorella vulgaris;
• b) performing mutagenesis of the parental strain of Chlorella vulgaris;
• c) cultivating the mutated strain of Chlorella vulgaris:
• at a specific temperature, for a predefined period of time, without presence of light and in the presence of an organic carbon energy source;
• and
• d) identifying colonies of the mutated strain of Chlorella vulgaris having a phenotype different from the parental strain of Chlorella 5 vulgaris as the modified strain of Chlorella vulgaris, wherein the parental strain of Chlorella vulgaris is a wild-type strain of Chlorella vulgaris or a variation of a wild-type strain of Chlorella vulgaris and wherein the mutagenesis is performed by exposure of the parental strain of Chlorella vulgaris to a non-lethal quantity of a mutagenic chemical, preferably wherein the mutagenic chemical is ethyl methanesulphonate.