Changhua Shang

Luxury uptake of phosphorus changes the accumulation of starch and lipid in Chlorella sp. under nitrogen depletion

The aim of this research was to study the effect of phosphorus supply on starch and lipid production under nitrogen starvation using Chlorella sp. as a model. High phosphate level had marginal effect on cell density but increased biomass growth. Massive phosphorus was assimilated quickly and mainly stored in the form of polyphosphate. The algal cells ceased phosphorus uptake when intracellular phosphorus reached a certain level. 5mM phosphate in the culture rendered a 16.7% decrease of starch synthesis and a 22.4% increase of lipid synthesis relative to low phosphate (0.17 mM). It is plausible that phosphate can regulate carbon partitioning between starch and lipid synthesis pathway by influencing ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase activity. Moreover, high phosphate concentration enhanced the abundance of oleic acid, improving oil quality for biodiesel production. It is a promising cultivation strategy by integration of phosphorus removal from wastewater with biodiesel production for this alga.

Characterization of lipid and fatty acids composition of Chlorella zofingiensis in response to nitrogen starvation.

Cellular biochemical composition of the microalga Chlorella zofingiensis was studied under favorable and nitrogen starvation conditions, with special emphasis on lipid classes and fatty acids distribution. When algal cells were grown in nitrogen-free medium (N stress), the increase in the contents of lipid and carbohydrate while a decrease in protein content was detected. Glycolipids were the major lipid fraction (50.7% of total lipids) under control condition, while neutral lipids increased to be predominant (86.7% of total lipids) under N stress condition. Triacylglycerol (TAG) content in N stressed cells was 27.3% dw, which was over three times higher than that obtained under control condition. Within neutral lipids fraction, monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were the main group (40.6%) upon N stress, in which oleic acid was the most representative fatty acids (34.5%). Contrarily, glycolipids and phospholipids showed a higher percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Lipid quality assessment indicated the potential of this alga as a biodiesel feedstock when its neutral lipids were a principal lipid fraction. The results demonstrate that the neutral lipids content is key to determine the suitability of the microalga for biodiesel, and the stress cultivation is essential for lipid quality.

Growth and lipid accumulation characteristics of Scenedesmus obliquus in semi-continuous cultivation outdoors for biodiesel feedstock production.

In an effort to identify suitable microalgal species for biodiesel production, seven species were isolated from various habitats and their growth characteristics were compared. The results demonstrated that a green alga Scenedesmus obliquus could grow more rapidly and synthesize more lipids than other six microalgal strains. S. obliquus grew well both indoors and outdoors, and reached higher μmax indoors than that outdoors. However, the cells achieved higher dry weight (4.36 g L(-1)), lipid content (49.6%) and productivity (183 mg L(-1) day(-1)) outdoors than in indoor cultures. During the 61 days semi-continuous cultivation outdoors, high biomass productivities (450-550 mg L(-1) day(-1)) and μmax (1.05-1.44 day(-1)) were obtained. The cells could also achieve high lipid productivities (151-193 mg L(-1) day(-1)). These results indicated that S. obliquus was promising for lipids production in semi-continuous cultivation outdoors.

Outdoor Growth Characterization of an Unknown Microalga Screened from Contaminated Chlorella Culture

Outdoor microalgae cultivation process is threatened by many issues, such as pest pollution and complex, changeable weather. Therefore, it is difficult to have identical growth rate for the microalgae cells and to keep their continuous growth. Outdoor cultivation requires the algae strains not only to have a strong ability to accumulate oil, but also to adapt to the complicated external environment. Using 18S rRNA technology, one wild strain Scenedesmus sp. FS was isolated and identified from the culture of Chlorella zofingiensis. Upon contamination by Scenedesmus sp., the species could quickly replace Chlorella zofingiensis G1 and occupy ecological niche in the outdoor column photobioreactors. The results indicated that Scenedesmus sp. FS showed high alkali resistance. It also showed that even under the condition of a low inoculum rate (OD680, 0.08), Scenedesmus sp. FS could still grow in the outdoor raceway pond under a high alkaline environment. Even under unoptimized conditions, the oil content of Scenedesmus sp. FS could reach more than 22% and C16–C18 content could reach up to 79.68%, showing that this species has the potential for the biodiesel production in the near future.

Treatment of low C/N ratio wastewater and biomass production using co-culture of Chlorella vulgaris and activated sludge in a batch photobioreactor

The aim of this work was to study the performance of pollutants removal and biomass production by co-culture of Chlorella vulgaris and activated sludge in a batch photobioreactor (PBR), compared with their single system to treat a low C/N ratio (COD/N = 4.3) wastewater. The co-culture system surpassed activated sludge system in terms of nutrients removal and outperformed microalgae alone system in regard to COD removal. Biomass productivity of the co-culture system was 343.3 mg L-1 d-1, and the harvested biomass could be developed as biofuels, animal feeds or soil conditioners due to the improved calorific value and cellular composition compared with activated sludge. The low C/N ratio wastewater enabled bacteria to maintain a relatively low level, hence in favor of microalgae enrichment and nutrient recovery.