Journal article
Towards sustainable microalgal biomass processing: Anaerobic induction of autolytic cell-wall self-ingestion in lipid-rich: Nannochloropsis slurries
R Halim, DRA Hill, E Hanssen, PA Webley, S Blackburn, AR Grossman, C Posten, GJO Martin
Green Chemistry | ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY | Published : 2019
DOI: 10.1039/c8gc03186j
Abstract
The high energy requirement associated with cell disruption has remained a major barrier to the commercial production of microalgal biofuels and bioproducts. Autolysis takes advantage of microalgal cells' biologically driven self-lysing properties and represents an environmentally sustainable mean of improving the recovery of intracellular products and the energy economics of biomass processing. This study demonstrated for the first time the induction of autolytic cell-wall thinning in Nannochloropsis. Autolysis was induced using a low-cost and low-energy non-invasive incubation treatment which stored highly concentrated microalgal slurry (0.11-0.29 mg biomass per mg slurry) in darkness at 3..
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Funding Acknowledgements
RH is grateful for the generous supports received from the following funding sources: (1) John Stocker Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2016-2020) from the Science and Industry Endowment Fund (Australia), (2) Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2017-2018) from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany), (3) Early-Career Researcher's Grant (2017) from the University of Melbourne (Australia). The authors would like to thank (1) Lesley Clementson from CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere for carrying out pigment analysis, (2) Zlatan Trifunovic from The University of Melbourne (The Advanced Microscopy Unit) for carrying out TEM sample preparation, (3) Paul Brannon and Dr Andrew Mitchell from The University of Melbourne (the Materials Characterisation and Fabrication Platform, Department of Chemical Engineering) for their assistance and guidance in flow cytometer analysis, (4) Natalja Nazarova from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Institute of Pulsed Power and Microwave Technology) for carrying out agar plating and assisting on axenic cultivation.