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The contribution of bacteria to algal growth by carbon cycling
Author(s) -
Bai Xue,
Lant Paul,
Pratt Steven
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.25475
Subject(s) - algae , bacteria , heterotroph , carbon fibers , cycling , productivity , bacterial growth , carbon cycle , photosynthesis , total inorganic carbon , carbon source , environmental chemistry , biology , environmental science , botany , ecology , chemistry , carbon dioxide , biochemistry , ecosystem , history , materials science , macroeconomics , archaeology , composite number , economics , composite material , genetics
Algal mass production in open systems is often limited by the availability of inorganic carbon substrate. In this paper, we evaluate how bacterial driven carbon cycling mitigates carbon limitation in open algal culture systems. The contribution of bacteria to carbon cycling was determined by quantifying algae growth with and without supplementation of bacteria. It was found that adding heterotrophic bacteria to an open algal culture dramatically enhanced algae productivity. Increases in algal productivity due to supplementation of bacteria of 4.8 and 3.4 times were observed in two batch tests operating at two different pH values over 7 days. A kinetic model is proposed which describes carbon limited algal growth, and how the limitation could be overcome by bacterial activity to re‐mineralize photosynthetic end products. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2015;112: 688–695. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.