The potential biomass yield per phosphorus and lipid/triglyceride (TAG) accumulation properties of seven microalgal species: Scenedesmus sp. LX1, Chlorella ellipsoidea YJ1, Chlorella vuglaris, Chlorella sorokiniana, Chlorella pyrenoidosa, Dunaliella primolecta and Haematococcus pluvialis were investigated. Among the tested species, Scenedesmus sp. LX1 obtained the smallest minimal phosphorus content in cell (Q(0)) and the highest potential biomass yield of 6100 kg-biomass/kg-P. After 12-day growth with intracellular phosphorus, Scenedesmus sp. LX1 accumulated about 30% lipid in biomass. Furthermore, the TAGs content per lipid of this strain (58.5%) as well as the lipid and TAGs yield per phosphorus (1800 kg-lipid/kg-P and 680 kg-TAGs/kg-P, respectively) were all significantly higher than that of any other species investigated in this study. Therefore, the phosphorus consumption to produce 1 kg biodiesel using Scenedesmus sp. LX1 as feedstock was lowest among the tested species. Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.