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"Microalgae"
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Isolation, characterization, and maintenance of native Swiss microalgae for biotechnological prospection
Microalgae culture collections may contain unexplored strains with great biotechnological potential. Through sampling, identification, characterization, and maintenance of local strains, part of the work described here led to the establishment of the first public Swiss microalgae culture collection, AlgoScope. The potential biotechnological applications of 7 strains from among over 120 native strains were suggested based on growth parameters and biochemical composition. Under standardized growth conditions,
Tetradesmus obliquus
FAM 27852 and FAM 27855,
Chloroidium saccharophilum
FAM 27962,
Chlorella vulgaris
FAM 27965,
Stichococcus
sp. FAM 27986,
Desmodesmus
sp. FAM 28090, and
Tetranephris brasiliensis
FAM 28097 had growth rates of 0.24 d
−1
–0.80 d
−1
and biomass productivities of 0.24 g L
−1
d
−1
–0.73 g L
−1
d
−1
. Proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and ashes ranged from 32.88 to 53.54%, 9.69–18.08%, 9.32–23.94%, and 3.17–5.51%, respectively. All strains had a similar amino acid composition, containing all essential amino acids. In contrast, the fatty acid composition varied among strains, but, in general, the fatty acids were rich in PUFAs (23.83–53.49% of total fatty acids). Overall,
C. saccharophilum
FAM 27962 and
T. brasiliensis
FAM 28097 showed great potential for use in the animal feed sector.
Journal Article
Impact of Microalgae-Bacteria Interactions on the Production of Algal Biomass and Associated Compounds
A greater insight on the control of the interactions between microalgae and other microorganisms, particularly bacteria, should be useful for enhancing the efficiency of microalgal biomass production and associated valuable compounds. Little attention has been paid to the controlled utilization of microalgae-bacteria consortia. However, the studies of microalgal-bacterial interactions have revealed a significant impact of the mutualistic or parasitic relationships on algal growth. The algal growth, for instance, has been shown to be enhanced by growth promoting factors produced by bacteria, such as indole-3-acetic acid. Vitamin B12 produced by bacteria in algal cultures and bacterial siderophores are also known to be involved in promoting faster microalgal growth. More interestingly, enhancement in the intracellular levels of carbohydrates, lipids and pigments of microalgae coupled with algal growth stimulation has also been reported. In this sense, massive algal production might occur in the presence of bacteria, and microalgae-bacteria interactions can be beneficial to the massive production of microalgae and algal products. This manuscript reviews the recent knowledge on the impact of the microalgae-bacteria interactions on the production of microalgae and accumulation of valuable compounds, with an emphasis on algal species having application in aquaculture.
Journal Article
Biomass and lipid induction strategies in microalgae for biofuel production and other applications
The use of fossil fuels has been strongly related to critical problems currently affecting society, such as: global warming, global greenhouse effects and pollution. These problems have affected the homeostasis of living organisms worldwide at an alarming rate. Due to this, it is imperative to look for alternatives to the use of fossil fuels and one of the relevant substitutes are biofuels. There are different types of biofuels (categories and generations) that have been previously explored, but recently, the use of microalgae has been strongly considered for the production of biofuels since they present a series of advantages over other biofuel production sources: (a) they don’t need arable land to grow and therefore do not compete with food crops (like biofuels produced from corn, sugar cane and other plants) and; (b) they exhibit rapid biomass production containing high oil contents, at least 15 to 20 times higher than land based oleaginous crops. Hence, these unicellular photosynthetic microorganisms have received great attention from researches to use them in the large-scale production of biofuels. However, one disadvantage of using microalgae is the high economic cost due to the low-yields of lipid content in the microalgae biomass. Thus, development of different methods to enhance microalgae biomass, as well as lipid content in the microalgae cells, would lead to the development of a sustainable low-cost process to produce biofuels. Within the last 10 years, many studies have reported different methods and strategies to induce lipid production to obtain higher lipid accumulation in the biomass of microalgae cells; however, there is not a comprehensive review in the literature that highlights, compares and discusses these strategies. Here, we review these strategies which include modulating light intensity in cultures, controlling and varying CO
2
levels and temperature, inducing nutrient starvation in the culture, the implementation of stress by incorporating heavy metal or inducing a high salinity condition, and the use of metabolic and genetic engineering techniques coupled with nanotechnology.
Journal Article
Exploiting diversity and synthetic biology for the production of algal biofuels
Modern life is intimately linked to the availability of fossil fuels, which continue to meet the world's growing energy needs even though their use drives climate change, exhausts finite reserves and contributes to global political strife. Biofuels made from renewable resources could be a more sustainable alternative, particularly if sourced from organisms, such as algae, that can be farmed without using valuable arable land. Strain development and process engineering are needed to make algal biofuels practical and economically viable.
Journal Article
A solar panel-origin microalga, Coelastrella thermophila D14, with high potential for wastewater biotechnology
Extremophilic environments are rich reservoirs for discovering microorganisms with vast biotechnological potential. Among these, microalgae stand out for their pivotal role in sustainable wastewater treatment and nutrient recycling. This study introduces
Coelastrella thermophile
D14, a microalga isolated from a solar panel, identified through morphological studies and genomic sequencing. The genus
Coelastrella
has been characterized and classified as highly productive strains valuable for biofuel and bioproduct generation as well as for their ability to produce significant amounts of carotenoids. Experiments revealed the extraordinary resilience of this strain to prolonged desiccation and high-strength piggery wastewater. Notably, D14 cultivated in 10% pig effluent exhibited biostimulant properties, achieving a germination index 23% higher than the control on
Lepidium sativum
. In a groundbreaking development, we have successfully established an
Agrobacterium
-mediated transformation protocol for
C. thermophila
D14, optimizing key parameters for effective T-DNA transfer. This marks a pioneering achievement within the genus
Coelastrella
. These findings highlight the significant potential of D14 as a robust platform for future biotechnological applications, opening new opportunities for innovative solutions, especially in environmental protection and sustainable agriculture.
Graphical Abstract
Key points
•
First microalga from solar panel biofilm: Coelastrella sp. D14 isolated and characterized.
•
Strain D14 tolerates prolonged desiccation and grows well in piggery wastewater.
•
Stable Agrobacterium-mediated transformation enables future metabolic engineering.
Journal Article
Isolation of Industrial Important Bioactive Compounds from Microalgae
Microalgae are known as a rich source of bioactive compounds which exhibit different biological activities. Increased demand for sustainable biomass for production of important bioactive components with various potential especially therapeutic applications has resulted in noticeable interest in algae. Utilisation of microalgae in multiple scopes has been growing in various industries ranging from harnessing renewable energy to exploitation of high-value products. The focuses of this review are on production and the use of value-added components obtained from microalgae with current and potential application in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, energy and agri-food industries, as well as for bioremediation. Moreover, this work discusses the advantage, potential new beneficial strains, applications, limitations, research gaps and future prospect of microalgae in industry.
Journal Article
The Potential for Microalgae as Bioreactors to Produce Pharmaceuticals
As photosynthetic organisms, microalgae can efficiently convert solar energy into biomass. Microalgae are currently used as an important source of valuable natural biologically active molecules, such as carotenoids, chlorophyll, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, phycobiliproteins, carotenoids and enzymes. Significant advances have been achieved in microalgae biotechnology over the last decade, and the use of microalgae as bioreactors for expressing recombinant proteins is receiving increased interest. Compared with the bioreactor systems that are currently in use, microalgae may be an attractive alternative for the production of pharmaceuticals, recombinant proteins and other valuable products. Products synthesized via the genetic engineering of microalgae include vaccines, antibodies, enzymes, blood-clotting factors, immune regulators, growth factors, hormones, and other valuable products, such as the anticancer agent Taxol. In this paper, we briefly compare the currently used bioreactor systems, summarize the progress in genetic engineering of microalgae, and discuss the potential for microalgae as bioreactors to produce pharmaceuticals.
Journal Article
Hypes, hopes, and the way forward for microalgal biotechnology
Microalgae can contribute to food security through the sustainable production of proteins and lipids, which are required to meet population growth and address environmental challenges.Cellular agriculture is developing with emerging bioprocesses based on solar energy, photovoltaics, H2, C1 carbon sources, and sugar as feedstocks.Different trophic modes – autotrophy, heterotrophy, and mixotrophy – have been successfully explored for microalgae.The production of microalgae has tripled in the last 5 years.The genetic toolbox for industrially relevant phototrophic strains expanded tremendously in the last 5 years.
The urge for food security and sustainability has advanced the field of microalgal biotechnology. Microalgae are microorganisms able to grow using (sun)light, fertilizers, sugars, CO2, and seawater. They have high potential as a feedstock for food, feed, energy, and chemicals. Microalgae grow faster and have higher areal productivity than plant crops, without competing for agricultural land and with 100% efficiency uptake of fertilizers. In comparison with bacterial, fungal, and yeast single-cell protein production, based on hydrogen or sugar, microalgae show higher land-use efficiency. New insights are provided regarding the potential of microalgae replacing soy protein, fish oil, and palm oil and being used as cell factories in modern industrial biotechnology to produce designer feed, recombinant proteins, biopharmaceuticals, and vaccines.
Journal Article
Microbial astaxanthin biosynthesis: recent achievements, challenges, and commercialization outlook
Astaxanthin is a natural pigment, known for its strong antioxidant activity and numerous health benefits to human and animals. Its antioxidant activity is known to be substantially greater than β-carotene and about a thousand times more effective than vitamin E. The potential health benefits have generated a growing commercial interest, and the escalating demand has prompted the exploration of alternative supply chain. Astaxanthin naturally occurs in many sea creatures such as trout, shrimp, and microalgae, some fungi, bacteria, and flowering plants, acting to protect hosts against environmental stress and adverse conditions. Due to the rapid growth and simple growth medium requirement, microbes, such as the microalga, Haematococcus pluvialis, and the fungus Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous, have been developed to produce astaxanthin. With advances in metabolic engineering, non-carotenogenic microbes, such as Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, have been purposed to produce astaxanthin and significant progress has been achieved. Here, we review the recent achievements in microbial astaxanthin biosynthesis (with reference to metabolic engineering strategies) and extraction methods, current challenges (technical and regulatory), and commercialization outlook. Due to greenness, sustainability, and dramatic cost reduction, we envision microbial synthesis of astaxanthin offers an alternative means of production (e.g. chemical synthesis) in the near future.
Journal Article