Characterization of nutrient removal and microalgal biomass production on an industrial waste-stream by application of the deceleration-stat technique.

Industrial wastewaters can serve as a nutrient and water source for microalgal production. In this study the effluent of an internal circulation (IC) reactor anaerobically treating the wastes of a biotechnology production facility were chosen as the cultivation medium for Chlorella sorokiniana in batch and continuous cultures. The aim was to evaluate the rates of nutrient removal and biomass production possible at various dilution rates.

Microplate-based method for high-throughput screening of microalgae growth potential.

Microalgae cultivation conditions in microplates will differ from large-scale photobioreactors in crucial parameters such as light profile, mixing and gas transfer. Hence volumetric productivity (P(v)) measurements made in microplates cannot be directly scaled up. Here we demonstrate that it is possible to use microplates to measure characteristic exponential growth rates and determine the specific growth rate light intensity dependency (μ-I curve), which is useful as the key input for several models that predict P(v).

Metabolic adaptations in a H2 producing heterocyst-forming cyanobacterium: potentials and implications for biological engineering.

Nostoc punctiforme ATCC 29133 is a photoautotrophic cyanobacterium with the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen and photoproduce hydrogen through the enzyme nitrogenase. The H(2) produced is reoxidized by an uptake hydrogenase. Inactivation of the uptake hydrogenase in N.