Domestication of Algae for Increasing Biomass Productivity

Conference · Tue Jun 18 04:00:00 EDT 2024

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2406972· OSTI ID:2406972

Polle, Juergen E ^[1]; Davis, Aubrey ^[2]; Anderson, Ryan; Menezes, Shefali ^[2]; Moses, Kirk ^[2]; Lundquist, Tryg ^[3]; Benemann, John ^[2]; Polle, Juergen ^[4]; Davis, Aubrey ^[3]; Menezes, Shefali ^[3]; Polle, Juergen ^[5]

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1. MicroBio Engineering Inc., 3988 Short St #100, San Luis Obispo, CA , USA; MicroBio Engineering Inc
2. MicroBio Engineering Inc., 3988 Short St #100, San Luis Obispo, CA , USA
3. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA
4. Brooklyn College of CUNY, 2900 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY, USA
5. The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

Microalgae cultivation processes have been developed for the production of a variety of bioproducts, however currently only a few species are used in commercial applications. Their domestication, that is strain improvements, is still in its infancy, with major advances required, specifically to maximize biomass productivity a limiting factor in microalgae production. This requires a deep understanding of algal biology, in particular to develop superior strains without the need of genetic technologies that would require lengthy regulatory permits, and often limit consumer acceptance. Adaptive Laboratory Evolution techniques, alone or in conjunction with sexual recombination, can allow for rapid develop of improved strains and their industrial production. Light harvesting antenna reduction has been a major approach to achieve increased photon utilization efficiency by cultures operating under full sunlight conditions due to higher light saturation levels, allowing for higher productivities under outdoor conditions. Decades of research yielded some promising results under controlled conditions with a few specific mutant strains. However, these failed to achieve the anticipated higher productivities in actual algal mass cultures, in part due to the inability of single mutations to overcome photoinhibition, reactive oxygen species, and other pleiotropic impacts on the complex metabolic processes of photosynthesis. Higher productivity strains will require multiple genetic improvements. We report on recent Adaptive Laboratory Evolution with the green alga Scenedesmus obliquus resulting in higher biomass productivity in open pond cultivation. Coupling our approach with sexual recombination and genome sequencing provides a path to algal domestication suitable for large-scale, low-cost biomass production.

• Research Organization: MicroBio Engineering Inc
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM)
• DOE Contract Number: FE0032189
• OSTI ID: 2406972
• Report Number(s): DOE-MBE-32189
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Algae
Strain Development
Biomass
Carbon Utilization