Microalgae - Science topic

Billions tons of fish waste generated annually by fish processing units pose significant environmental challenges, including emissions and degradation. However, a promising solution lies in converting this waste into valuable resources such as biofuel, pharmacological components, fertilizer and fodder. Biofuel derived from organic waste, seaweed an...

Plastic disposal and their degraded products in the environment are global concern due to its adverse effects and persistence in nature. To overcome plastic pollution and its impacts on environment, a sustainable bioplastic production using renewable feedstock's, such as algae, are envisioned. In this review, the production of polymer precursors su...

In this work, we used splenocytes from healthy mice to study the effects of the two most commonly used cell culture media (A, B) with different compositions of redox reagents. The incubation of cells for 24 h resulted in a significant decrease in viability and metabolic activity of splenocytes, and the negative effects of incubation in medium B wer...

The possible impact of ZnO and CuO nanoparticles (NPs) (individually and in binary mixture) was investigated using the freshwater microalgae, Scenedesmus obliquus. The present study shows the effect of nanoparticles on algae in OECD growth media, wastewater, and pond water during a 96-h toxicity test. At 0.1 mg/L concentration of the mixture of NPs...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an invalidating chronic autoimmune disorder characterized by joint inflammation and progressive bone damage. Dietary intervention is an important component in the treatment of RA to mitigate oxidative stress, a major pathogenic driver of the disease. Alongside traditional sources of antioxidants, microalgae—a diverse gr...

Microalgae not only play a vital role in the ecosystem but also hold promising commercial applications. Conventional methods of detecting and monitoring microalgae rely on field sampling followed by transportation...

Marine harmful algal blooms (HABs), caused by various aquatic microalgae, pose significant risks to ecosystems, some socio-economic activities and human health. Traditionally managed as a public health issue through reactive control measures such as beach closures, seafood trade bans or closure of mollusc production areas, the multifaceted linkages...

The oleaginous microalga Microchloropsis gaditana (formerly Nannochloropsis gaditana) has gained large interest due to its potential to produce lipids for a wide range of biotechnological applications. To optimize M. gaditana growth conditions and develop new strains to enhance lipid synthesis and accumulation, a broad understanding of the organism...

Background Amphora coffeaeformis, a unicellular diatom, can significantly accumulate lipids under nitrogen (N) limitation. However, the molecular mechanism underlying lipid accumulation in A. coffeaeformis remains unknown and its application development is lagging. Results This work analyzed the lipid composition of A. coffeaeformis under N depriv...

Microalgae are recognized as a relevant source of bioactive compounds. Among these bioactive products, lipids, mainly glycolipids, have been shown to present immunomodulatory properties with the potential to mitigate chronic inflammation. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of polar lipids isolated from Nannochloropsis oceanic...

We developed a system combining visible-light photocatalysis with biological treatment for the continuous removal of phthalate esters (PAEs) from both synthetic and real aquaculture wastewater. We investigated the effects of different operating factors, including the coexistence of glucose or PAEs, on individual PAE removal by using a photobiologic...

Marine algae are a valuable source of polysaccharides. However, the information available on sulfated polysaccharides from microalgae is limited. Navicula sp. is a microalga present in the Sea of Cortez, of which little is known regarding their polysaccharides’ properties. This study investigated the physicochemical and microstructural characterist...

Microalgae-based photobioreactors (PBRs) have gained attention as a sustainable solution for indoor air quality (IAQ) control. This study investigates indoor CO2 absorption performance of Spirulina maxima (S. maxima) in NaHCO3-limited cultivation (standard: NaHCO3-free medium = 1:1 v/v%) of a lab-scale PBR system. Cultivation performance of three m...

Microalgae are the primary source of food for Artemia franciscana. In turn, Artemia serve as live food for various species in culture. The chemical composition of Artemia is of great importance because it affects the nutritional quality of the organisms produced in aquaculture systems. For this reason, the present study aimed to characterize the nu...

Summary: Industrial flue gas contains 10-15% CO2, and can be recycled efficiently by algae modified by synthetic biology to mitigate carbon emission. The biomass generated can be used as biofuel feedstock, after conversion by HTL. The resulting biochar can be used in the filtration of Ethanol distillery wastewater and as natural fertiliser to enric...

As microalgas apresentam capacidade de produzir compostos comerciais de alto valor, empregando sistemas de cultivo para geração de biomassa, oferecendo potencial econômico e vantagens ambientais, principalmente no contexto da biorremediação. A capacidade de absorção de nutrientes desses microrganismos foi comprovada por vários estudos. Consequentem...

Using the halotolerant green microalgae Dunaliella salina as a model organism has special merits, such as a wide range of salt tolerance, unicellular organism, and simple life cycle and growth conditions. These unique characteristics make it suitable for salt stress study. In order to provide an overview of the response of Dunaliella salina to salt...

Algae-based foods have been gaining increasing popularity in recent years and hold tremendous potential, provided that there is greater awareness and knowledge about microalgae-based foods within both the general population and the food industry. These products not only offer health benefits for the human body but are also cost-effective and enviro...

A cross-flow ultrafiltration harvesting system of a pre-concentrated microalgae culture was tested in an innovative anaerobic-based WRRF. The microalgae culture was cultivated in a membrane photobioreactor fed with the effluent from an anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating sewage. These harvested microalgae biomass was then anaerobically co-digest...

Efficient induction of astaxanthin (AXT) biosynthesis remains a considerable challenge for the industrialization of the biorefinement of the microalga Haematococcus lacustris. In this study, we evaluated the technical feasibility of photosynthetic electrotreatment to enhance AXT accumulation in H. lacustris. The AXT content of H. lacustris electrot...

Diatom is a common single-cell microalgae with large species and huge biomass. Diatom biosilica (DB), the shell of diatom, is a natural inorganic material with a micro-nanoporous structure. Its unique hierarchical porous structure gives it great application potential in drug delivery, hemostat materials, and biosensors, etc. However, the structural...

A l imaginar un desierto, en nuestra cabeza aparece la imagen de un lugar carente de seres vivos, tal como lo indica la palabra de la que proviene su nombre, del latín desertus. Sin embargo, los desiertos resguardan una gran biodiversidad. En algunos de ellos podemos encontrar cuerpos de agua muy particulares, semejantes a lagos, rodeados de verde...

Spirulina, a filamentous microalga, is used all over the world as a nutraceutical dietary supplement. Recent studies have focused on examining its chelating activity and antioxidant properties, especially as a candidate for protection against neurotoxicity caused by heavy metals. The MTT test and LDH assay were used to examine the viability of the...

Elevated levels of pollutants, including heavy metals, resulting from human activities, have raised concerns regarding their adverse impacts on natural ecosystems. Among these, aquatic organisms, particularly non-target microalgae, bear substantial consequences from such contaminants. This study endeavored to evaluate the impact of the heavy metal...

Liquid biofuels like biodiesel and bioethanol are crucial in the transition to low-carbon and high-energy alternatives to fossil fuels. One significant by-product of biodiesel production is glycerol, which accounts for about 10% of the total conversion output. While waste glycerol poses challenges due to its impurities and contaminants, it also hol...

Because of their colour, cyanobacteria are also known as blue-green algae (BGA). These are gramme-positive prokaryotes. They manufacture their own food by photosynthesis and are rich in colours such as chlorophyll a, carotenoids, and phycobilins. Blue-green algae have been demonstrated to be useful in the treatment of hypertension and may be used a...

p> Aurantiochytrium sp is a marine microalgae that is rich in lipids. Extraction of lipids from microalgae requires effort to select a suitable solvent and extraction method. This research used a double-step extraction method to study a mixture of n-hexane and methanol as a solvent. The variables studied were stirring time, the n-hexane to methanol...

Biotransformation and biodegradation of estrogenic compounds by bacteria and even fungi have been reported widely, but the role of microalgae in the elimination of estrogens from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and their interaction with other microorganisms in wastewater are not clear. This study reported the feasibility of repeatedl...

Microalgae biotechnologies tap into the huge energy resource of the sun, absorb CO2, and are being developed to provide economic solar-driven solutions spanning the production of phytochemicals, foods, biopolymers, renewable fuels and services delivering clean water and bioremediation capabilities. Further, microalgae open up a suite of high-value...

Algal biofuels are a promising renewable feedstock to produce energy that can supplement future energy demands greatly. The present study aims to utilize Dunaliella salina, a hypersaline, unicellular greenish-orange micro-algae, to produce bio-oil. F/2 nutrient media and trace metal and vitamin solution under carbon-dioxide-rich conditions were use...

The present study investigated the possible toxic effect of ZnO and CuO nanoparticles (NPs) on freshwater microalgae, Scenedesmus obliquus at environmentally- relevant nanoparticle concentration (1 mg/L) and high concentration (10 mg/L) in BG-11 medium under white light LED-illumination over 35 days. The effect of time on the stability of media, na...

Cannibalism and intraguild predation of fish eggs are frequently observed for small and medium pelagic fish and can be an important cause of natural mortality. The European sardine Sardina pilchardus is the major predator of pelagic fish eggs in Atlantic Iberian waters. Estimates of egg mortality due to predation rely on a number of parameters that...

Diatoms are globally abundant microalgae that form extensive blooms in aquatic ecosystems. Certain bacteria behave antagonistically towards diatoms, killing or inhibiting their growth. Despite their crucial implications to diatom bloom and population health, knowledge of diatom antagonists in the environment is fundamentally lacking. We report syst...

Although significant progress has been made in coaxial printing of vascularized tissue models, this technique has not yet been used to fabricate stimulus‐responsive scaffolds capable of shape change over time. Here, a new method of direct ink printing (DIP) is proposed with a coaxial nozzle, coaxial 4D printing, enabling the manufacturing of thermo...

Engineered living materials (ELMs) are a novel class of functional materials that typically feature spatial confinement of living components within an inert polymer matrix to recreate biological functions. Understanding the growth and spatial configuration of cellular populations within a matrix is crucial to predicting and improving their responsi...

Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms playing a pivotal role in primary production in aquatic ecosystems, sustaining the entry of carbon in the biosphere. Microalgae have also been recognized as sustainable source of biomass to complement crops. For this objective they are cultivated in photobioreactors or ponds at high cell density to maxim...

The emergence of bioplastics presents a promising solution to the environmental impact of the plastics industry. Biodegradable plastics are engineered to degrade in aquatic or soil environments. Biodegradable bioplastics can degrade in these conditions, according to sustainability standards, and have a low environmental impact. However, not all bio...

Chlorella, Nannochloropsis, Dunaliella, Schizochitrium, and Spirulina are just a few of the many genera of microalgae, which are unicellular and part of the phytoplankton family. They flourish in saltwater and are rich in fish-friendly nutrients. The main benefit of marine microalgae is that they are quickly and easily grown, harvested, and process...

The Bouguer–Lambert–Beer (BLB) law serves as the fundamental basis for the spectrophotometric determination of pigment content in microalgae. Although it has been observed that the applicability of the BLB law is compromised by the light scattering effect in microalgae suspensions, in-depth research concerning the relationship between the light sca...

Many studies indicate that microalgae and cyanobacteria which are used in cosmetics, medicine, various industrial areas as human and animal food have been used for many alternative treatments. These species have high nutritional values due to their high protein, carbohydrate and fatty acid content. Microalgae have different morphological and physio...

Background Many organisms rely on mineral nutrients taken directly from the soil or aquatic environment, and therefore, developed mechanisms to cope with the limitation of a given essential nutrient. For example, photosynthetic cells have well-defined responses to phosphate limitation, including the replacement of cellular membrane phospholipids wi...

Improving methods for landless production of bioproducts is considered an important stage in the development of the modern bioeconomy. In this context, microalgal biomass is one of the most promising sources of valuable substances due to its rich biochemical composition. Despite the high adaptability of microalgae to various environmental factors,...

The ever-increasing concern for energy shortages and greenhouse effect has triggered the development of sustainable green technologies. Microalgae have received more attention due to the characteristics of biofuel production and CO2 fixation. From the perspective of autotrophic growth, the optimization of light quality has the potential to promote...

Microalgae-based biocomposites are gaining traction as ecofriendly and cost-effective alternatives to conventional petroleum-based plastics. However, achieving a homogeneous dispersion of microalgae within a biocomposite matrix remains a challenge. In this study, we investigated the effect of the size of dried microalgae (Chlorella sp.) on the qual...

Synthetic cell exoskeletons created from abiotic materials have attracted interest in materials science and biotechnology, as they can regulate cell behavior and create new functionalities. Here, a facile strategy is reported to mimic microalgal sporulation with on‐demand germination and locomotion via responsive metal–phenolic networks (MPNs). Spe...

Chlorella, Nannochloropsis, Dunaliella, Schizochitrium, and Spirulina are just a few of the many genera of microalgae, which are unicellular and part of the phytoplankton family. They flourish in saltwater and are rich in fish-friendly nutrients. The main benefit of marine microalgae is that they are quickly and easily grown, harvested, and process...

The water shortage problem in Egypt has promoted the exploration of new water resources, including the use of treated agricultural drainage water. This study aims to develop an efficient and cost-effective method for the in-situ treatment of agricultural drainage water from the Bahr-ElBaqar drain using a microalgae layer. The objective was to estab...

High-throughput sequencing has revolutionized the DNA sequence-based study of microbial community and diversity on an unprecedented scale. Relic DNA is widespread in the natural aquatic environment; however, the extent to which such DNA can bias the sequence-based analysis of living microeukaryotic communities is unclear. Here, we conducted a 30-da...

The integration of microorganisms and engineered artificial components has shown considerable promise for creating biohybrid microrobots. The unique features of microalgae make them attractive candidates as natural actuation materials for the design of biohybrid microrobotic systems. In this review, w e will introduce microalgae‐based biohybrid mic...

Microalgal species from sewage treatment plant were identified by 18S rRNA sequencing and were explored for total lipids, carbohydrate, and protein contents, to serve as a potential candidate for biorefinery. Seven unicellular microalgae were identified as Chlorella sorokiniana, Dictyosphaerium sp., Graesiella emersonii belonging to Chlorellaceae a...

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role in regulating cell division and differentiation. However, a much uncertainty exists around the ecophysiological functions played by the extracellular ROS produced by the microalgae, and strategies for gaining a better understanding of the microalgae-induced stresses on the environment are just begin...

Microalgae, as some of the oldest life forms on Earth, are of significant interest to industry and in terms of environmental policies, due to their ability to perform photosynthesis and consume atmospheric carbon dioxide. Moreover, they contain a wide variety of value-added compounds such as amino acids and proteins, carbohydrates, and fatty acids,...

Red snow caused by blooms of microalgae darkens the surface of summer snowfields, increasing snowmelt. To assess the contribution of red snow to supraglacial snowmelt in northwestern North America, we systematically mapped the 2019–2022 distribution of blooms by applying supervised classification to 6158 satellite images. Blooms occurred on 5% of t...

The treatment and utilization of cheese whey (W) represents one of the major challenges facing the dairy industry. In this work the production of Chlorella vulgaris and its potential use in recovering the main nutrients (N, P and C) from cheese whey was evaluated in batch and continuous mode. Four different treatments were evaluated: Fertilizers-co...

Fresh water is one of the essential sources of life, and its requirement has increased in the past years due to population growth and industrialization. Industries use huge quantities of fresh water for their processes, and generate high quantities of wastewater rich in organic matter, nitrates, and phosphates. These effluents have contaminated the...

Sustainability and recycling of agricultural and animal husbandry waste are important. Pig manure contains relatively high concentrations of organic matter, such as nitrate-nitrogen, ammonia nitrogen, and phosphate, and a direct discharge can cause environmental pollution. This study successfully culturing four brackish water microalgae, including...

The Atlantic horse mackerel ( Trachurus trachurus ) is a globally favored fish due to its abundance, nutritional value, and affordability, but it faces quality preservation challenges. To address this, this study aimed to enhance its value by creating low-salt smoked products with natural bioactive compounds from seafood and forest sources. The fis...

The continuous increment in world population coupled with the greatest natural resource consumption and waste generation has an enormous impact on the environment. To date, using biological indicators (bioindicators) to evaluate the biological quality of natural environments is very common. Nonetheless, selecting those suitable for each ecosystem o...

To obtain microalgae strains adapted to wastewater in the Mediterranean region, microalgae present in the Nile River were cultivated at both high-light temperature (HLT) and low-light temperature (LLT) conditions. It was found that the species which became dominant under HLT was chlorophyta of the genus Scenedesmus. In contrast, under LLT, bacillar...

Microalgae have emerged as a promising feedstock for the sustainable production of lipid-based products, including biofuels and omega-3 fatty acids, by utilizing CO2 as a carbon source. Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) is a vital enzyme in microalgal lipid synthesis, converting dihydroxyacetone phosphate into glycerol-3-phosphate, the init...

In 2019, a staggering 931 million tons of food went to waste, which is equal to about 17% of all the food available in stores. Dealing with this waste and managing wastewater from various industries will be among the world’s top challenges soon. This is because the global population is expected to grow to around 9 billion people by 2050. Food proce...

In order to solve the problem of microalgae biomass harvesting in suspension systems, attached culture systems were proposed. In this system, microalgae are fixed on the surface or inner layer of the carrier and grow in an aggregated form. Compared with suspension culture, attached culture has higher microalgae biomass density and easier dehydratio...

This case study assesses the valorization of industrial wastewater streams for bioenergy generation in an industrial munition facility. On-site pilot-scale demonstrations were performed to investigate the feasibility of algal growth in the target wastewater on a larger outdoor scale. An exploratory field study followed by an optimized one were carr...

SINOPSIS IV Encuentro Anual de la red CYTED RENUWAL. El 25 de septiembre de 2015, la Asamblea General de la ONU aprobó la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible, uno de los acuerdos globales más ambiciosos para abordar los desafíos mundiales del siglo XXI: acabar con la pobreza, promover la prosperidad económica, la inclusión social, la sostenib...

The production of biodiesel from microalgae faces several problems to be solved, among them is the necessity of increasing their lipid content, optimizing the harvesting, and improving the conversion of lipids to bioenergy, therefore reducing the energy cost of the production process prior to its commercial launch. Research focused on optimizing th...