Changes in the cell growth and lipid accumulation of marine microalga Dunaliella tertiolecta were investigated in response to the combination of different stress factors including the variation of iron supply as a primary stress factor and different options in light irradiation and CO2 supply as a secondary stress factor. High or limited Fe conditions could act as a stress for lipid synthesis. As a secondary stress factor, non-CO2 condition was good for lipid accumulation, but the overall cell growth was sacrificed significantly after a long-time cultivation. Dark condition as a secondary stress factor also favored lipid accumulation and the extent of cell density reduction at the early period in the dark wassmall compared to other stress conditions. The two-stage cultivation strategy was necessary to maximize lipid production because tendencies of the cell growth and lipid content were not identical under the chosen stress condition. The first stage was for preparing a high cell density under the normal growth-favoring condition and the second stage was the stress condition to induce lipid accumulation in a short time. The short-term (12 h) incubation under the 5X Fe (3.25 mg/L) and dark conditions resulted in the best lipid productivity of 1.44 g/L/d providing 2 g/L inoculum at the second stage.