Experimental validation of a nonequilibrium model of CO₂ fluxes between gas, liquid medium, and algae in a flat-panel photobioreactor.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) availability strongly affects the productivity of algal photobioreactors, where it is dynamically exchanged between different compartments, phases, and chemical forms. To understand the underlying processes, we constructed a nonequilibrium mathematical model of CO₂ dynamics in a flat-panel algal photobioreactor. The model includes mass transfer to the algal suspension from a stream of bubbles of CO₂-enriched air and from the photobioreactor headspace.

A photobioreactor system for precision cultivation of photoautotrophic microorganisms and for high-content analysis of suspension dynamics.

Small-scale photobioreactors for cultivation of photoautotrophic microbes are required for precise characterization of the growth parameters of wild-type and engineered strains of these organisms, for their screening, and for optimization of culture conditions. Here, we describe the design and use of a flat-cuvette photobioreactor that allows accurate control of culture irradiance, temperature, pH, and gas composition combined with real-time monitoring by a built-in fluorometer and densitometer. The high-power LED light source generates precise irradiance levels that are programmed by user-designed protocols.

E-photosynthesis: a comprehensive modeling approach to understand chlorophyll fluorescence transients and other complex dynamic features of photosynthesis in fluctuating light.

Plants are exposed to a temporally and spatially heterogeneous environment, and photosynthesis is well adapted to these fluctuations. Understanding of the complex, non-linear dynamics of photosynthesis in fluctuating light requires novel-modeling approaches that involve not only the primary light and dark biochemical reactions, but also networks of regulatory interactions. This requirement exceeds the capacity of the existing molecular models that are typically reduced to describe a partial process, dynamics of a specific complex or its particular dynamic feature.