Increased Biofuel Production from Unicellular Algae

March 23, 2019

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(Algae Industry Magazine) A new study may provide knowledge for increased biofuel production from unicellular algae. When starved for nutrients such as nitrogen, algae accumulate copious amounts of energy-rich lipids, which can be harvested and used as biofuel. Algae-based biofuel has the potential to serve as a sustainable replacement for fossil fuels. However, for biofuels to become a commercially viable solution, it is essential to more than double the total amount of lipids accumulated within algae.

“This is a systems biology problem,” said Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) Senior Vice President and Director Dr. Nitin Baliga. “Nutrient starvation not only arrests accumulation of biomass, but also it causes loss of biomass by inducing programmed cell death within the algae.”

In a study published in the journal Phycological Research, Drs. Santosh Sathe and Pierre Durand of the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) and Drs. Mónica Orellana and Baliga of ISB, report how lipid accumulation and programmed cell death are intertwined within the chlorophyte algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Their findings suggest that lipid accumulation and programmed cell-death are coordinated processes that have evolved for sustaining algal populations in harsh environments. READ MORE

Temporal and metabolic overlap between lipid accumulation and programmed cell death due to nitrogen starvation in the unicellular chlorophyte Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Phycological Research)

New Study May Provide Knowledge for Increased Biofuel Production from Unicellular Algae (Systems Biology)