Recent works have shown that specific strains of microalgae are capable to simultaneously increase their growth rate and lipid content when cultured under suitable concentrations of iron. While these results are promising in view of the exploitation of microalgae for producing biofuels, to the best of our knowledge, no mathematical model capable to describe the effect of iron on lipid accumulation in microalgae, has been so far proposed. A comprehensive mathematical model describing the effect of iron on chlorophyll synthesis, nitrogen assimilation, growth rate and lipid accumulation in a freshwater strain of Chlorella vulgaris is then proposed in this work. Model results are successfully compared with experimental data which confirm the positive effect of growing iron concentrations on lipid productivity of C. vulgaris. Thus, the proposed model might represent a useful tool to optimize iron-based strategies to improve the lipid productivity of microalgal cultures. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.