Photosynthetic conversion of carbon dioxide from cement production to microalgae biomass.

Production of microalgae is a potential technology for capturing and recycling carbon dioxide from cement kiln emissions. In this study, a process of selecting a suitable strain that would effectively utilize carbon dioxide and generate biomass was investigated. A down-selection screening method was applied to 28 strains isolated from the area surrounding a commercial cement plant.

Seasonal isolation of microalgae from municipal wastewater for remediation and biofuel applications.

Aims: The objective of the study was to isolate the microalgae strains from treated municipal wastewater in both summer and winter seasons in order to identify strains better suited for nutrient remediation and biofuel production under either cooler or warmer temperatures.

Methods And Results: Fifty-six strains in total were isolated and identified by DNA sequencing from effluent samples collected from a local wastewater treatment plant during the summer and winter of 2011. Screening of 41 isolates based on the fatty acid productivity at either 22 or 10°C resulted in the selection of 12 strains organized into two groups of 6-the M (mild) and C (cool) groups, respectively.

An integrated approach to gene discovery and marker development in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua).

Atlantic cod is a species that has been overexploited by the capture fishery. Programs to domesticate this species are underway in several countries, including Canada, to provide an alternative route for production. Selective breeding programs have been successfully applied in the domestication of other species, with genomics-based approaches used to augment conventional methods of animal production in recent years.

Complete sequence and analysis of the mitochondrial genome of Hemiselmis andersenii CCMP644 (Cryptophyceae).

Background: Cryptophytes are an enigmatic group of unicellular eukaryotes with plastids derived by secondary (i.e., eukaryote-eukaryote) endosymbiosis.

Nucleomorph genome of Hemiselmis andersenii reveals complete intron loss and compaction as a driver of protein structure and function.

Nucleomorphs are the remnant nuclei of algal endosymbionts that took up residence inside a nonphotosynthetic eukaryotic host. The nucleomorphs of cryptophytes and chlorarachniophytes are derived from red and green algal endosymbionts, respectively, and represent a stunning example of convergent evolution: their genomes have independently been reduced and compacted to <1 megabase pairs (Mbp) in size (the smallest nuclear genomes known) and to a similar three-chromosome architecture. The molecular processes underlying genome reduction and compaction in eukaryotes are largely unknown, as is the impact of reduction/compaction on protein structure and function.