Roccuzzo, S., Beckerman, A.P. and Pandhal, J. (2016) The use of natural infochemicals for sustainable and efficient harvesting of the microalgae Scenedesmus spp. for biotechnology: insights from a meta-analysis. Biotechnology Letters. ISSN 0141-5492
Abstract
Open raceway ponds are regarded as the most economically viable option for large-scale cultivation of microalgae for low to mid-value bio-products, such as biodiesel. However, improvements are required including reducing the costs associated with harvesting biomass. There is now a growing interest in exploiting natural ecological processes within biotechnology. We review how chemical cues produced by algal grazers induce colony formation in algal cells, which subsequently leads to their sedimentation. A statistical meta-analysis of more than 80 studies reveals that Daphnia grazers can induce high levels of colony formation and sedimentation in Scenedesmus obliquus and that these natural, infochemical induced sedimentation rates are comparable to using commercial chemical equivalents. These data suggest that natural ecological interactions can be co-opted in biotechnology as part of a promising, low energy and clean harvesting method for use in large raceway systems.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2016 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. |
Keywords: | Colony formation; Daphnia infochemicals; Harvesting biomass; Microalgae; Open raceway ponds; Scenedesmus spp |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 06 Sep 2016 09:01 |
Last Modified: | 08 Oct 2019 11:31 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10529-016-2192-2 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s10529-016-2192-2 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:104339 |