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Microalgae have the potential as a source of biofuels due to their high biomass productivity and ability to grow in a wide range of conditions, including wastewater. This study investigated cultivating two microalgae species, Oocystis pusilla and Chlorococcus infusionum , in wastewater for biodiesel production. Compared to Kühl medium, KC medium resulted in a significant fold increase in cellular dry weight production for both O. pusilla and C. infusionum , with an increase of 1.66 and 1.39, respectively. A concentration of 100% wastewater resulted in the highest growth for O. pusilla , with an increase in biomass and lipid content compared to the KC medium. C. infusionum could not survive in these conditions. For further increase in biomass and lipid yield of O. pusilla , different total dissolved solids (TDS) levels were used. Maximum biomass and lipid productivities were achieved at 3000 ppm TDS, resulting in a 28% increase in biomass (2.50 g/L) and a 158% increase in lipid yield (536.88 mg/g) compared to KC medium. The fatty acid profile of O. pusilla cultivated on aerated wastewater at 3000 ppm TDS showed a high proportion of desirable saturated fatty acids (SFA) and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) for biodiesel production. Cultivating microalgae in wastewater for biodiesel production can be cost-effective, especially for microalgae adapted to harsh conditions. It could be concluded that O. pusilla is a promising candidate for biodiesel production using wastewater as a growth medium, as it has high biomass productivity and lipid yield, and its fatty acid profile meets the standard values of American and European biodiesel standards. This approach offers a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution for producing biofuels while reducing the environmental impact of wastewater disposal.

The effects of temperature, salinity, and illumination on the nitrite uptake rate of the microalgae–bacteria consortia of Oocystis borgei and Rhodopseudomonas palustris were investigated. The absorption rates of nitrite and the contribution rate of each component in the consortia under different temperatures (15, 20, 25, 30, 35 °C), illuminations (0, 15, 25, 35, 45 μmol·m−2·s−1), and salinities (0, 5, 15, 25, 35‰) were determined by stable isotope labeling technique. The single and combined effects of three environmental factors on nitrite uptake by the microalgae–bacteria consortia were analyzed using single-factor and orthogonal experiments. The single-factor experiment showed that the microalgae–bacteria consortia could absorb nitrite efficiently when the temperature, salinity, and illumination were 20~30 °C, 0~15‰, and 25~45 μmol·m−2·s−1, respectively, with the highest absorption rates were 2.086, 3.058, and 2.319 μg∙g−1∙h−1, respectively. The orthogonal experiment showed that the most efficient environmental conditions for nitrite uptake were 30 °C, 5‰ salinity, 35 μmol·m−2·s−1 illumination, and the rate of nitrite uptake by the microalgae–bacteria consortia was 3.204 μg∙g−1∙h−1. The results showed that the nitrite uptake rate of the O. borgei–R. palustris consortia was most affected by temperature, followed by salinity, and least by illumination. Under the same conditions, the nitrite absorption capacity of the microalgae–bacteria consortia was greater than that of single bacteria or algae, and R. palustris played a major role in the nitrite absorption of the consortia. The O. borgei and R. palustris consortia still maintain high nitrite absorption efficiency when the environment changes greatly, which has broad application prospects in the regulation and improvement of water quality in shrimp culture.

To enhance the nutrient removal efficiency of Oocystis borgei for mariculture wastewater (MW), the effects and processes of three phytohormones on nitrogen and phosphorus removal from synthetic mariculture wastewater (SMW) by O. borgei under sequential batch operation were compared. The findings revealed that the supplementation with 10−6 M 3-indoleacetic acid (IAA), gibberellic acid (GA3), and zeatin (ZT) resulted in the most effective elimination, while there was no appreciable difference among them. The nitrogen and phosphorus indices of the effluent dramatically reduced (p < 0.01) upon the supplementation of phytohormones, and the removal effects were ranked as NO3−-N > PO43−-P > NH4+-N > NO2−-N. The removal rates for NH4+-N and PO43−-P were 0.72–0.74 mg·L−1·d−1 and 1.26–1.30 mg·L−1·d−1, respectively. According to physiological studies, phytohormones enhanced the levels of photosynthetic pigments and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (Fv/Fm and φPSII), thereby improving photosynthetic activity. Additionally, they stimulated Nitrate Reductase (NR) and Glutamine Synthetase (GS) activities to promote nitrogen metabolism and increased Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), and carotenoid contents to mitigate oxidative stress damage caused by abiotic stress. These activities contribute to the proliferation of O. borgei, which in turn resulted in an increase in the assimilation of nitrogen and phosphorus from SMW. In conclusion, phytohormone supplementation significantly increased nutrient removal from SMW by O. borgei in a sequential batch reactor, which has potential application in MW treatment.

Anaerobic digestate of food waste as a waste product of anaerobic digestion contains a significant amount of nutrients making its direct disposal prohibitive due to environmental regulations. However, the nutrients in this waste are a valuable feedstock for waste-to-product endeavours such as microalgae cultivation coupled to the treatment of the digestate. A limitation to this path is the high toxic concentration of ammonia nitrogen in the digestate which limits microalgae growth, leading to the requirement for significant dilution before use. This study focused on the bioprospecting and sourcing of species capable of sustained growth in very high concentrations of ammonia nitrogen. Ten local strains of microalgae were isolated, comprising mainly of unicellular species, a colonial species, and a filamentous species. Three unicellular species were chosen (Chlorella sp., MUR 271; Scenedesmus obliquus (Tetradesmus obliquus), MUR 272; and Oocystis sp., MUR 273) and screened alongside previously isolated strains (Scenedesmus quadricauda, MUR 268; Chlorella sp., MUR 269; and Scenedesmus dimorphus (Tetradesmus dimorphus) MUR 270) which had undergone long-term acclimation in digestate. The most tolerant of the newly isolated strains was MUR 273 (Oocystis sp.), capable of proliferation in up to 600 mg L−1 NH3-N concentration in digestate. The maximum specific growth rate, μmax, of MUR 273 was 0.36 ± 0.01 day−1 at 150 mg L−1 NH3-N. The results indicate that MUR 273 displayed tolerance levels similar to that obtained with MUR 268 which had previously undergone long-term acclimation in digestate and could potentially be used in the treatment and valorization of the anaerobic digestate of food waste with significantly less dilution.

Application of wastewater for algal biomass production can not only lead to production of thousands of tons of biomass for subsequent biofuel production, but also can provide for significant removal of contaminants in wastewater. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the growth, contaminant removal, and biochemical component (lipid, carbohydrate, and protein) accumulation potential of Chlorella vulgaris , Scenedesmus obliquus, and Oocystis minuta cells in wastewater supplemented with different concentrations of sulfate, nitrate, and phosphate. The results show maximum biomass productivity of 33, 19, and 98 mg dw/L/d for C. vulgaris, S. obliquus , and O. minuta , respectively. Phosphate removal (more than 90%) was highest in the culture with O. minuta ; about 93% nitrate was removed by C. vulgaris , and the highest sulfate removal of 36% was observed in the culture with S. obliquus . The biochemical composition of the microalgae cells is in the ranges of 22–65% carbohydrate, 19–38% protein, and 8–17% lipid. This indicates that carbohydrate and protein are preferentially accumulated as compared to lipids under the growth conditions investigated for each of the microalgae strains.

The increase of ammonia nitrogen, nitrite, nitrate, urea, and other dissolved nitrogen in prawn pond often causes eutrophication of water body and prawn poisoning, which brings great harm to aquaculture. Microalgae are the main biological factors in prawn pond, which can effectively utilize dissolved nitrogen. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of the forms and concentrations of various dissolved nitrogen on the uptake rate (ρ) by Oocystis borgei, and establish the relationship model between ammonia nitrogen uptake rate and key environmental factors using 15N isotope labeling technique. Temperature (A), light intensity (B), salinity (C), pH (D), and algal concentration (E) were the factors used to construct an empirical model. Study results showed that nitrogen concentrations had a significant effect on the uptake rates of ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, and urea (P < 0.05). Under various salinity and temperature conditions, the relative preference index (RPI) of ammonium was greater than that of nitrite, urea, and nitrate; Ammonium was the preferred nitrogen source for O. borgei. The optimal combination of environmental conditions for ρ(NH4+-N) was temperature of 20 °C, pH of 7.5, light intensity of 81 μmol m−2 s−1, salinity of 15‰, and algal concentration of 5.5 × 108 cell L−1. The model equation wasρ = 0.0017 × (A0.180B0.252C0.748D0.587E) + 0.0512, with the coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.89. No significant difference was observed between the model-predicted values and the measured values (F = 0.789, P > 0.05), which demonstrated the high fitting degree of simulation equation. This study provides valuable insight into the removal of dissolved nitrogen in a controllable prawn farming mode such as high-elevation ponds by O. borgei.

Use of microalgae as a source of food in aquaculture production is gaining recognition due to their rapid growth rate that promises high biomass generation within a short time. The challenge faced is getting good and inexpensive nutrients source to be used in mass production of the required microalgae. This study investigated the effect of different nutrient combination in influencing the growth rate of the of the green algae Oocystis sp. which has been identified as a possible protein source for the raising of Orechromis niloticus fingerlings for fish farming. Modified Bolds 3 N Medium and commercial agricultural fertilizers (urea, NPK and DAP) media were compared to establish the appropriate combinations that would result into high biomass generation but at the lowest cost possible. The Modified Bold 3 N Medium acted as the control, at a cost of 11.28 KSh per litre; the other media were derived from urea, NPK, and DAP (varying the ratio of each) at a cost of treatment 1 (0.14 KSh per litre), treatment 2 (0.18 KSh per litre), and treatment 3 (0.22 KSh per litre). The algae was cultured for 5 weeks with samples taken daily for biomass analyses using chloropyhll-a concentration as the surrogate for Oocystis sp. biomass for 30 days, from each treatment was determined. The growth rate, doubling time, and divisions per day were then estimated based on this chlorophyll-a concentration. The results showed that the mean concentrations of chlorophyll-a in treatment 1 was highest (7.715 ± 0.667 µg/ml), while treatment 3 (6.441 ± 0.555 µg/ml) had the least. There were no significant differences in the mean concentrations of chlorophyll-a in the four treatments (Kruskal–Wallis H test: P > 0.05). The chlorophyll-a concentration varied significantly in each treatment with time (Kruskal–Wallis H test: P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the growth rate (Kruskal–Wallis H test: P > 0.05), divisions per day (Kruskal–Wallis H test: P > 0.05), and doubling time (Kruskal–Wallis H test: P > 0.05) from the different treatments. The results of this study showed that inorganic fertilizers can be used as cost-effective media in the mass scale culture of Oocystis sp.

Background The green algae represent one of the most successful groups of photosynthetic eukaryotes, but compared to their land plant relatives, surprisingly little is known about their evolutionary history. This is in great part due to the difficulty of recognizing species diversity behind morphologically similar organisms. The Trebouxiophyceae is a species-rich class of the Chlorophyta that includes symbionts (e.g. lichenized algae) as well as free-living green algae. Members of this group display remarkable ecological variation, occurring in aquatic, terrestrial and aeroterrestrial environments. Because a reliable backbone phylogeny is essential to understand the evolutionary history of the Trebouxiophyceae, we sought to identify the relationships among the major trebouxiophycean lineages that have been previously recognized in nuclear-encoded 18S rRNA phylogenies. To this end, we used a chloroplast phylogenomic approach. Results We determined the sequences of 29 chlorophyte chloroplast genomes and assembled amino acid and nucleotide data sets derived from 79 chloroplast genes of 61 chlorophytes, including 35 trebouxiophyceans. The amino acid- and nucleotide-based phylogenies inferred using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods and various models of sequence evolution revealed essentially the same relationships for the trebouxiophyceans. Two major groups were identified: a strongly supported clade of 29 taxa (core trebouxiophyceans) that is sister to the Chlorophyceae + Ulvophyceae and a clade comprising the Chlorellales and Pedinophyceae that represents a basal divergence relative to the former group. The core trebouxiophyceans form a grade of strongly supported clades that include a novel lineage represented by the desert crust alga Pleurastrosarcina brevispinosa . The assemblage composed of the Oocystis and Geminella clades is the deepest divergence of the core trebouxiophyceans. Like most of the chlorellaleans, early-diverging core trebouxiophyceans are predominantly planktonic species, whereas core trebouxiophyceans occupying more derived lineages are mostly terrestrial or aeroterrestrial algae. Conclusions Our phylogenomic study provides a solid foundation for addressing fundamental questions related to the biology and ecology of the Trebouxiophyceae. The inferred trees reveal that this class is not monophyletic; they offer new insights not only into the internal structure of the class but also into the lifestyle of its founding members and subsequent adaptations to changing environments.

Lithium is registered as a serious pollutant that causes environmental damage to an irrigation water supply. Freshwater green alga ( Oocystis solitaria ) was studied for its potential to remove lithium ions from aqueous solutions. The Plackett–Burman design was applied for initial screening of six factors for their significances for the removal of lithium from aqueous solutions using Oocystis solitaria cells. Among the variables screened, pH, lithium concentration, and temperature were the most significant factors affecting lithium removal. Hence, the levels of these significant variables were further investigated for their interaction effects on lithium removal using the Box–Behnken statistical design. The optimum conditions for maximum lithium removal from aqueous solutions by Oocystis solitaria were the initial lithium concentration of 200 mg/L, contact time of 60 min, temperature of 30 °C, pH 5, and biomass of Oocystis solitaria cells of 1 g/L with agitation condition. Under the optimized conditions, the percentage of maximum lithium removal was 99.95% which is larger than the percentage of lithium removal recorded before applying the Plackett–Burman design (40.07%) by 2.49 times. The different properties of Oocystis solitaria , as an adsorbent, were explored with SEM and via FTIR analysis. The spectrum of FTIR analysis for samples of Oocystis solitaria cells before lithium biosorption showed different absorption peaks at 3394 cm −1 , 2068 cm −1 , 1638 cm −1 , 1398 cm −1 , 1071 cm −1 , and 649 cm −1 which has been shifted to 3446 cm −1 , 2924 cm −1 , 1638 cm −1 , 1384 cm −1 , 1032 cm −1 , and 613 cm −1 , respectively, after lithium biosorption by the alga. The treatment of aqueous solution containing lithium with Oocystis solitaria cells immobilized in alginate beads removed 98.71% of lithium at an initial concentration of 200 mg/L after 5 h. Therefore, Oocystis solitaria may be considered as an alternative for sorption and removal of lithium ions from wastewaters.

The response of a laboratory-raised phytoplankton assemblage to copper and zinc enrichment was studied. Higher intracellular accumulation of both the test metals caused disappearance of metal sensitive species, loss of diversity and species richness, reduced growth rate, Chl a and biovolume; however, the community could recover after 14 days of incubation. Cyanobacteria showed marked sensitivity to both the test metals besides some diatoms, such as, Cyclotella meneghiniana and Melosira granulata. Metal enrichment enhanced the relative abundance of species like Scenedesmus quadricauda, Oocystis borgei, Achnanthes exigua, Fragilaria capucina and Nitzschia amphibia, and these were apparently metal tolerant. Cu and Zn stress induces formation of lipid bodies (bigger in size as well as in number) and morphological abnormalities in diatoms. Among these two metals, Cu impact was higher than Zn despite the fact that the intracellular accumulation of Zn was higher than Cu. Deformed raphe and mixed deformities in diatoms were exclusively found under heavy metal stress which was well supported by regression analysis. Finally the present study gives new insight for using diatoms as an effective tool for biomonitoring and biofuel production.