Nitrogen and sulfur deprivation differentiate lipid accumulation targets of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) have inter-related and distinct impacts on microalgal metabolism; with N starvation having previously been reported to induce elevated levels of the biodiesel feedstock material triacylglycerol (TAG), while S deprivation is extensively studied for its effects on biohydrogen production in microalgae. ( 1) (,) ( 2) We have previously demonstrated that N- and S-starved cells of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii display different metabolic trends, suggesting that different response mechanisms exist to compensate for the absence of those two elements. ( 3) We used C.

Differential effects of nitrogen and sulfur deprivation on growth and biodiesel feedstock production of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Biodiesel production from microalgae is a promising approach for energy production; however, high cost of its process limits the use of microalgal biodiesel. Increasing the levels of triacylglycerol (TAG) levels, which is used as a biodiesel feedstock, in microalgae has been achieved mainly by nitrogen starvation. In this study, we compared effects of sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) starvation on TAG accumulation and related parameters in wild-type Chlamydomonas reinhardtii CC-124 mt(-) and CC-125 mt(+) strains.