Nilusha Sudasinghe

• PhD
• PostDoc Position at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Photosynthetic microbes are considered promising biofactories for transforming inorganic carbon from the atmosphere into a renewable source of chemicals and precursors of industrial interest; however, there continues to be a need for strains that demonstrate high productivity, environmental robustness, and the potential to be genetically manipulate...

Algae hold great potential as a source of renewable fuel due to their ability to produce refinery-compatible diesel and jet fuel precursors. Significant effort has been made to maximize productivity under photoautotrophic growth conditions; however, little progress has been made to discover and understand reduced carbon assimilation pathways or enz...

We characterize the distribution of oceanic phosphorus-containing lipids (PL) in the Northeast Atlantic by Iatroscan thin layer chromatography and high resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). Phospholipids are a small but significant fraction of oceanic particulate organic carbon (POC) (1.5%). We describe...

There are major gaps in our understanding of the distribution and role of lipids in the open ocean especially with regard to sulfur-containing lipids (S-lipids). Here, we employ a powerful analytical approach based on high resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) to elucidate depth-related S-lipid productio...

We report the co-liquefaction performance of unicellular, red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae and Galdieria sulphuraria under sub-critical water conditions within a stainless-steel batch reactor under different temperatures (150–300 °C), residence time (15–60 min), and Cyanidioschyzon merolae to Galdieria sulphuraria mass loading (0–100%). Individual...

We utilized high resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) to describe the depth-dependent distribution and molecular nature of nitrogen containing lipids (N-lipids) from suspended particles in an oceanic environment. Samples were collected at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain (PAP) sustained observatory in the no...

Recalcitrant organic groundwater contaminants, such as 1,4-dioxane, may require strong oxidants for complete mineralization. However, their efficacy for in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) is limited by oxidant decay and reactivity. Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) was examined for its ability to stabilize aqueous phase ozone (O3) and prolong oxi...

We apply Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) for direct characterization of iron-porphyrins in hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) biocrude oils derived from two algae: Tetraselmis sp. and cyanobacteria. The iron porphyrin compounds are shown to cause catalyst bed plugging during hydroprocessing due to iron depositio...

We present the characterization and vertical distribution of suspended particulate lipids containing C, H and O which have the potential to sequester carbon from the upper ocean when associated with sinking particles. Lipids have been shown to be valuable in a host of environments to provide insights into the sources and processing of organic mater...

Heme nitric oxide/oxygen (H-NOX) binding proteins act as nitric oxide (NO) sensors among various bacterial species. In several cases, they act to mediate communal behavior such as biofilm formation, quorum sensing and motility by influencing the activity of downstream signaling proteins such as histidine kinases (HisKa) in a NO-dependent manner. A...

Temperature effect on hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of Nannochloropsis gaditana and Chlorella sp. was investigated with 10% biomass loading at HTL temperatures of 180–330 °C, and reaction time of 30 min. Maximum yields of 47.5% for Nannochloropsis sp. and 32.5% biocrude oil yields for Chlorella sp. were obtained at 300 °C. The higher heating valu...

Background: Anthocyanin rich blue corn is an emerging specialty crop in the United States. The anti-oxidant properties of blue corn offer health benefits in the human diet. The objectives of the present work were to identify, characterize and quantify the anthocyanins from blue corn. We tested hypotheses that total anthocyanin content was similar...

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is one of the productive thermochemical conversion processes capable of converting wet feedstock into renewable bio-oils. In this study, microalgae Cyanidioschyzon merolae (CM) and Galdieria sulphuraria (GS) were co-liquefied under hydrothermal conditions in a stainless-steel batch reactor. The temperatures and CM/GS...

Cultivation of microalgae has the potential to provide lipid-derived feedstocks for conversion to liquid transportation fuels. Lipid extracts from microalgae are significantly more complex than those of traditional seed oils, and their composition changes significantly throughout the microalgal growth period. With three acyl side chains per molecul...

Induction of oil accumulation in algae for biofuel production is often achieved by withholding nitrogen. However, withholding nitrogen often reduces total biomass yield. In this report, it is demonstrated that Chlorella sorokiniana will not only accumulate substantial quantities of neutral lipids when grown in the absence of nitrogen but will also...

We illustrate a detailed compositional characterization of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) oils derived from two biochemically distinct microalgae, Nannochloropsis gaditana and Chlorella sp. (DOE 1412), for a range of reaction temperature as observed by high-resolution electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrome...

We have developed a strategy needed for the production of sustainable algal biofuels with hydrothermal liquefaction of three different algal species. Hydrothermal liquefaction experiments with 10% solid loading of Chlorella sp., Nannochloropsis sp., or Galdieria sp. were carried out between 180oC-300oC and 30 min. of reaction time to investigate th...