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Microalgal swimming signatures and neutral lipids production across growth phases
Author(s) -
You Jiaqi,
Mallery Kevin,
Mashek Douglas G.,
Sanders Mark,
Hong Jiarong,
Hondzo Miki
Publication year - 2020
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.27271
Subject(s) - exponential growth , nutrient , biofuel , biology , stationary phase , biomass (ecology) , food science , botany , chemistry , ecology , chromatography , mathematical analysis , mathematics
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.