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| Authors: | Jiaqi You Kevin Mallery Douglas G. Mashek Mark Sanders Jiarong Hong Miki Hondzo |
| Affiliation: | 1. St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, College of Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minnesota;2. St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, College of Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minnesota;3. Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, Minnesota;4. Department of Neuroscience, Medical School, University Imaging Centers, University of Minnesota, Minnesota;5. St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, College of Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minnesota Department of Civil, Environmental and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minnesota |
| Abstract: | Microalgae have been shown as a potential bioresource for food, biofuel, and pharmaceutical products. During the growth phases with corresponding environmental conditions, microalgae accumulate different amounts of various metabolites. We quantified the neutral lipids accumulation and analyzed the swimming signatures (speed and trajectories) of the motile green alga, Dunaliella primolecta, during the lag–exponential–stationary growth cycle at different nutrient concentrations. We discovered significant changes in the neutral lipid content and swimming signatures of microalgae across growth phases. The timing of the maximum swimming speed coincided with the maximum neutral lipid content and both maxima occurred under nutrient stress at the stationary growth phase. Furthermore, the swimming trajectories suggested statistically significant changes in swimming modes at the stationary growth phase when the maximum intracellular neutral lipid content was observed. Our results provide the potential exploitation of microalgal swimming signatures as possible indicators of the cultivation conditions and the timing of microalgal harvest to maximize the lipid yield for biofuel production. The findings can also be implemented to explore the production of food and antibiotics from other microalgal metabolites with low energy costs. |
| Keywords: | biofuel lipids microalgae swimming |