Scaling up microalgal cultures to commercial scale

ABSTRACT

Scaling up algal cultures to the very large volumes required for commercial production is a complex task and requires skilled and experienced personnel. First it is necessary to consider how to optimize the process of producing enough inoculum for the large ponds or photobioreactors in order to minimize the time and cost required. In order to minimize the need for re-inoculation from stock cultures it is also essential to manage the large-scale cultures to avoid significant contamination or collapse. The maintenance of long-term, stable, high-productivity, large-scale cultures, usually under prevailing outdoor conditions of variable irradiance, temperature and rainfall, presents additional challenges most of which are not seen in the constant environment experienced by small-scale laboratory cultures. Methods and protocols to deal with these can only be developed at the large-scale and they will mostly be specific for the alga being cultured, the culture system being used and the location of the production plant. A common feature of all large-scale operations known to us is that, over time (years), both productivity and reliability of the cultures improve as the operators gather experience in managing their cultures.     

Biofouling in photobioreactors for marine microalgae

The economic and/or energetic feasibility of processes based on using microalgae biomass requires an efficient cultivation system. In photobioreactors (PBRs), the adhesion of microalgae to the transparent PBR surfaces leads to biofouling and reduces the solar radiation penetrating the PBR. Light reduction within the PBR decreases biomass productivity and, therefore, the photosynthetic efficiency of the cultivation system. Additionally, PBR biofouling leads to a series of further undesirable events including changes in cell pigmentation, culture degradation, and contamination by invasive microorganisms; all of which can result in the cultivation process having to be stopped. Designing PBR surfaces with proper materials, functional groups or surface coatings, to prevent microalgal adhesion is essential for solving the biofouling problem. Such a significant advance in microalgal biotechnology would enable extended operational periods at high productivity and reduce maintenance costs. In this paper, we review the few systematic studies performed so far and applied the existing thermodynamic and colloidal theories for microbial biofouling formation in order to understand microalgal adhesion on PBR surfaces and the microalgae–microalgae cell interactions. Their relationship to the physicochemical properties of the solid PBR surface, the microalgae cell surfaces, and the ionic strength of the culture medium is discussed. The suitability and the applicability of such theories are reviewed. To this end, an example of biofouling formation on a commercial glass surface is presented for the marine microalgae Nannochloropsis gaditana. It highlights the adhesion dynamics and the inaccuracies of the process and the need for further refinement of previous theories so as to apply them to flowing systems, such as is the case for PBRs used to culture microalgae.     

新疆尉犁县荒漠微藻的分离及其生物学特性分析

采用十倍稀释法对新疆尉犁县周边干旱-荒漠土壤进行荒漠微藻的分离纯化,并以18SrDNA作为分子标记进行分子系统学鉴定,对其中5株微藻生物学特性进行观察及生化成分含量的测定,为极端环境微藻资源的开发应用以及进一步探讨塔克拉玛干干旱-荒漠地区地质和生态环境演变史提供参考。结果表明:(1)共分离选出23株微藻,且分别属于绿囊藻属、马尔瓦尼亚属、小球藻属、原生管藻属和衣藻属等5个属,其中属于绿囊藻属的藻种最多(14株),占总分离藻种的60.87%。(2)5株微藻(每个属选1株)的生长曲线均呈典型的"S"形,最适生长温度为25~35℃。(3)成分分析结果显示,除XLD-M-4以外,其他4株微藻(XLD-B-4、XLD-B-6、XLD-B-9和XLDM-5等)的总蛋白含量均高于对照组CC-127,即分别等于CC-127的1.57、2.13、1.07和1.21倍;脂肪酸含量基本以不饱和脂肪酸为主,其中18碳不饱和脂肪酸(亚油酸/异硬脂酸)含量最高达44.88%,其次是16碳饱和脂肪酸(13-甲基正十五烷酸),为37.88%。     

荒漠微藻的碳氧转换与调控

为了提高微藻的生物燃料生产效率及其在密闭环境中的碳氧转换效率,以两株荒漠微藻BG18-3、BE6-2和一株淡水蓝藻7924为研究对象,对其进行逆境条件培养,发现荒漠微藻BG18-3在各种逆境中表现最佳。在静态培养中,荒漠微藻BG1-3也具有明显的优势,其生物量干重达到0.26 g/L,硝态氮和磷酸盐去除率分别为36%和99%。在荒漠微藻BG18-3的通气培养中,生物干重量最高（3% CO₂通气培养16天）达到2.63 g/L,生物量产率为164.0 mg/L·d,出口CO₂浓度最低降到0.04%,O₂净含量增加0.68%,这表明荒漠微藻BG18-3具有较高的碳氧转化效率,具有生产生物燃料的潜质。最后根据18s rDNA分析结果将荒漠微藻BG18-3鉴定为栅列藻Scenedesmus littoralis。     

Detoxification of 2,4-dichlorophenol by the marine microalga Tetraselmis marina

Xenobiotic chlorinated phenols have been found in fresh and marine waters and are toxic to many aquatic organisms. Metabolism of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) in the marine microalga Tetraselmis marina was studied. The microalga removed more than 1mM of 2,4-DCP in a 2l photobioreactor over a 6 day period. Two metabolites, more polar than 2,4-DCP, were detected in the growth medium by reverse phase HPLC and their concentrations increased at the expense of 2,4-DCP. The metabolites were isolated by a C8 HPLC column and identified as 2,4-dichlorophenyl-beta-d-glucopyranoside (DCPG) and 2,4-dichlorophenyl-beta-d-(6-O-malonyl)-glucopyranoside (DCPGM) by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometric analysis in a negative ion mode. The molecular structures of 2,4-DCPG and 2,4-CPGM were further confirmed by enzymatic and alkaline hydrolyses. Thus, it was concluded that the major pathway of 2,4-DCP metabolism in T. marina involves an initial conjugation of 2,4-DCP to glucose to form 2,4-dichlorophenyl-beta-d-glucopyranoside, followed by acylation of the glucoconjugate to form 2,4-dichlorophenyl-beta-d-(6-O-malonyl)-glucopyranoside. The microalga ability to detoxify dichlorophenol congeners other than 2,4-DCP was also investigated. This work provides the first evidence that microalgae can use a combined glucosyl and malonyl transfer to detoxify xenobiotics such as dichlorophenols.     

固定化海洋微藻对污水中Ni2+的吸附

采用海藻酸钠包埋小球藻和叉鞭金藻,制得含藻细胞的固定化胶球,用其对Ni^2 进行生物吸附,研究了固定化小球藻和固定化叉鞭金藻对污水中Ni^2 的吸附率。结果表明：对于同一种固定化微藻,处于对数生长中期时对Ni^2 吸附效果较好,且吸附过程主要在前4h完成;Ni^2 浓度越大,吸附率越高;固定化微藻比悬浮态微藻吸附率高;在相同的实验条件下,固定化小球藻比固定化叉鞭金藻吸附率高。     

Changes in the Fatty Acid Composition of Hepatopancreas of the Mollusk Mytilus trossulus Fed on Microalgae

The influence of diet on the fatty acid composition of the hepatopancreas of Mytilus trossulus was studied. Three groups of mollusks were fed monocultures of the microalgae Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Chaetoceros muelleri (Bacillariophyceae), and Nannochloropsis sp. (Eustigmatophyceae) for 10 days. After 10 days, the proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids, mainly eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic, increased in the total lipids of the hepatopancreas in all mollusk groups. The content of saturated fatty acids in the mussel tissues decreased and was not dependent on the amount in the algal diet. Toward the end of the experiment, the fatty acid composition of the hepatopancreas of mussels was similar irrespective of the fatty acid composition of their food. The fatty acid analysis of M. trossulus feces suggests a selective assimilation by mussels of predominantly the n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. The role of fatty acid metabolism in M. trossulus is discussed.     

Causes of shear sensitivity of the toxic dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum

Dinoflagellates have proven extremely difficult to culture because they are inhibited by low‐level shear forces. Specific growth rate of the toxic dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum was greatly decreased compared with static control culture by intermittent exposure to a turbulent hydrodynamic environment with a bulk average shear rate that was as low as 0.3 s^?1. Hydrodynamic forces appeared to induce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within the cells and this caused peroxidation of cellular lipids and ultimately cell damage. Exposure to damaging levels of shear rate correlated with the elevated level of lipoperoxides in the cells, but ROS levels measured directly by flow cytometry did not correlate with shear induced cell damage. This was apparently because the measured level of ROS could not distinguish between the ROS that are normally generated by photosynthesis and the additional ROS produced as a consequence of hydrodynamic shear forces. Continuously subjecting the cells to a bulk average shear rate value of about 0.3 s^?1 for 24‐h caused an elevation in the levels of chlorophyll a, peridinin and dinoxanthin, as the cells apparently attempted to counter the damaging effects of shear fields by producing pigments that are potential antioxidants. In static culture, limitation of carbon dioxide produced a small but measureable increase in ROS. The addition of ascorbic acid (0.1 mM) to the culture medium resulted in a significant protective effect on lipid peroxidation, allowing cells to grow under damaging levels of shear rates. This confirmed the use of antioxidant additives as an efficient strategy to counter the damaging effects of turbulence in photobioreactors where shear sensitive dinoflagellates are cultivated. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2009