Potential of Lentibacillus sp. NS12IITR for production of lipids with enriched branched-chain fatty acids for improving biodiesel properties along with hydrocarbon co-production

Hypersaline environment is inhabited by array of microbes which have the potential to produce industrially important products. This study explored biomass and lipid production potential of the halophilic bacterium, strain NS12IITR which was isolated from Sambhar Lake, Rajasthan. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed that the bacterium belonged to genus Lentibacillus. The salient feature of the isolate is its ability to accumulate total cellular lipid up to 18.9 ± 0.45% of dry cell weight. In addition, trans-esterification of extracted lipid yielded 77.6 ± 5.56% of total esters as methyl ester of branched-chain fatty acids (BCFAs). To assess the nature of extracted lipid, lipid sample was fractionated on the silicic acid column, which demonstrated that 49.03 ± 1.35% of the total lipids was neutral in nature. Trans-esterification of the neutral lipid fraction yielded 60.62 ± 4.88% of total esters as methyl ester of BCFAs. Methyl esters of BCFAs were present in trans-esterified products of neutral as well as polar lipid fractions. Furthermore, the isolate produced hydrocarbons both extracellularly (C₁₀-C₃₀) and intra-cellularly (C₁₅-C₂₈). The concentration of extracellular hydrocarbon (21.11 ± 0.78 mg/L) synthesized by strain NS12IITR is in close agreement with the yield reported from other hydrocarbon producing bacteria. This is hereby a first report on the co-production of lipids and hydrocarbon from a halophilic bacterium. The production of neutral lipid with high percentage of BCFAs and co-production of hydrocarbons makes the isolate NS12IITR a potential claimant for biofuel production.

Transcription of lignocellulose-decomposition associated genes, enzyme activities and production of ethanol upon bioconversion of waste substrate by Phlebia radiata

Previously identified twelve plant cell wall degradation-associated genes of the white rot fungus Phlebia radiata were studied by RT-qPCR in semi-aerobic solid-state cultures on lignocellulose waste material, and on glucose-containing reference medium. Wood-decay-involved enzyme activities and ethanol production were followed to elucidate both the degradative and fermentative processes. On the waste lignocellulose substrate, P. radiata carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZy) genes encoding cellulolytic and hemicellulolytic activities were significantly upregulated whereas genes involved in lignin modification displayed a more complex response. Two lignin peroxidase genes were differentially expressed on waste lignocellulose compared to glucose medium, whereas three manganese peroxidase-encoding genes were less affected. On the contrary, highly significant difference was noticed for three cellulolytic genes (cbhI_1, eg1, bgl1) with higher expression levels on the lignocellulose substrate than on glucose. This indicates expression of the wood-attacking degradative enzyme system by the fungus also on the recycled, waste core board material. During the second week of cultivation, ethanol production increased on the core board to 0.24 g/L, and extracellular activities against cellulose, xylan, and lignin were detected. Sugar release from the solid lignocellulose resulted with concomitant accumulation of ethanol as fermentation product. Our findings confirm that the fungus activates its white rot decay system also on industrially processed lignocellulose adopted as growth substrate, and under semi-aerobic cultivation conditions. Thus, P. radiata is a good candidate for lignocellulose-based renewable biotechnology to make biofuels and biocompounds from materials with less value for recycling or manufacturing.

Effect of Chemical Pre-treatments on Bioethanol Production from Chlorella minutissima

In recent years, algal bioethanol production comes into prominence as a trend towards sustainable development. Due to being sustainable energy source and environmental friendly, bioethanol production from algae is becoming increasingly popular all over the world. However, yield of bioethanol production from algae is lower than first generation feedstock's currently, and needs to be improved. In order to increase bioethanol yield, pre-treatments should be performed as cell disruption process on algal biomass. For this reason, researchers investigate the most appropriate pre-treatment method and its parameters for high yield bioethanol production from algae. In this study, cultivated Chlorella minutissima was utilized for bioethanol production. Effects of pre-treatment method (dilute acid and alkaline), chemical concentration, pre-treatment temperature and pre-treatment time on bioethanol yield were investigated. It was found that, the highest bioethanol yield was obtained as 18.52% with acid pre-treatment at pre-treatment temperature of 100 °C and pre-treatment time of 60 minutes.

Anaerobic biodegradation of biofuels and their impact on the corrosion of a Cu-Ni alloy in marine environments

Fuel biodegradation linked to sulfate reduction can lead to corrosion of the metallic infrastructure in a variety of marine environments. However, the biological stability of emerging biofuels and their potential impact on copper-nickel alloys commonly used in marine systems has not been well documented. Two potential naval biofuels (Camelina-JP5 and Fisher-Tropsch-F76) and their petroleum-derived counterparts (JP5 and F76) were critically assessed in seawater/sediment incubations containing a metal coupon (70/30 Cu-Ni alloy). Relative to a fuel-unamended control (1.2 ± 0.4 μM/d), Camelina-JP5 (86.4 ± 1.6 μM/d) and JP5 (77.6 ± 8.3 μM/d) stimulated much higher rates of sulfate reduction than either FT-F76 (11.4 ± 2.7 μM/d) or F76 (38.4 ± 3.7 μM/d). The general corrosion rate (r² = 0.91) and pitting corrosion (r² = 0.92) correlated with sulfate loss in these incubations. Despite differences in microbial community structure on the metal or in the aqueous or sediment phases, sulfate reducing bacteria affiliated with Desulfarculaceae and Desulfobacteraceae became predominant upon fuel amendment. The identification of alkylsuccinates and alkylbenzylsuccinates attested to anaerobic metabolism of fuel hydrocarbons. Sequences related to Desulfobulbaceae were highly enriched (34.2-64.8%) on the Cu-Ni metal surface, regardless of whether the incubation received a fuel amendment. These results demonstrate that the anaerobic metabolism of biofuel linked to sulfate reduction can exacerbate the corrosion of Cu-Ni alloys. Given the relative lability of Camelina-JP5, particular precaution should be taken when incorporating this hydroprocessed biofuel into marine environments serviced by a Cu-Ni metallic infrastructure.

Microalgae-bacteria models evolution: From microalgae steady-state to integrated microalgae-bacteria wastewater treatment models - A comparative review

The search for environmentally neutral alternative fuels had revived the interest for microalgae-bacteria wastewater treatment systems. The potential achieving of bioproducts from microalgae biomass has also greatly contributed. The reactions that occur in these systems are complex, and the degree of scientific knowledge is still scarce compared to that of conventional bacteria wastewater treatments. Mathematical models offer a great opportunity to study the simultaneous effect of the multiple factors affecting microalgae and bacteria, thus allowing for the prediction of final biomass production, and contributing to the system design optimization in terms of operation and control. During the last decades, numerous models describing microalgae growth have been proposed. However, a lower number of integral models considering microalgae as well as bacteria is available. In this paper, the evolution of microalgae models from simple steady-state models (usually dependent on one factor) to more complex dynamic models (with two or more factors) has been revised. A summary of integrated microalgae-bacteria models has been reviewed, outlining their main features and presenting their processes and value parameters. Eventually, a critical discussion on integrated models has been put forward.

Characterization of cellulolytic microbial consortium enriched on Napier grass using metagenomic approaches

Energy grass is a promising substrate for production of biogas by anaerobic digestion. However, the conversion efficiency is limited by the enzymatically recalcitrant nature of cellulosic wastes. In this study, an active, structurally stable mesophilic lignocellulolytic degrading microbial consortium (Np-LMC) was constructed from forest compost soil microbiota by successive subcultivation on Napier grass under facultative anoxic conditions. According to tagged 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, increasing abundance of facultative Proteobacteria was found in the middle of batch cycle which was then subsequently replaced by the cellulose degraders Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes along with decreasing CMCase, xylanase, and β-glucanase activity profiles in the supernatant after 5 days of incubation. Anaerobic/facultative bacteria Dysgonomonas and Sedimentibacter and aerobic bacteria Comamonas were the major genera found in Np-LMC. The consortium was active on degradation of the native and delignified grass. Direct shotgun sequencing of the consortium metagenome revealed relatively high abundance of genes encoding for various lignocellulose degrading enzymes in 23 glycosyl hydrolase (GH) families compared to previously reported cellulolytic microbial communities in mammalian digestive tracts. Enzymes attacking cellulose and hemicellulose were dominated by GH2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 26, 28 and 43 in addition to a variety of carbohydrate esterases (CE) and auxiliary activities (AA), reflecting adaptation of the enzyme systems to the native herbaceous substrate. The consortium identified here represents the microcosm specifically bred on energy grass, with potential for enhancing degradation of fibrous substrates in bioenergy industry.

Heterologous expression and characterization of a new lipase from Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf0-1 and used for biodiesel production

As a kind of important biocatalysts, Pseudomonas lipases are commonly applied in various industrial fields. Pflip1, a new extracellular lipase gene from Pseudomonas. fluorescens Pf0-1, was first cloned and respectively expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) and Pichia pastoris KM71, the recombinant proteins Pflip1a and Pflip1b were later purified separately. Then Pflip1a was further characterized. The optimum pH of Pflip1a was 8.0 and its optimal temperature was 70 °C. After incubation at 70 °C for 12 h, Pflip1a could retain over 95% of its original activity. It showed the highest activity towards p-nitrophenyl caprylate. Moreover, its activity was profoundly affected by metal ion, ionic surfactants and organic solvents. Furthermore, the two obtained recombinant lipases were immobilized on the magnetic nanoparticles for biodiesel preparation. The GC analysis showed that for the immobilized lipases Pflip1b and Pflip1a, the biodiesel yield within 24 h respectively attained 68.5% and 80.5% at 70 °C. The activities of the two immobilized lipases still remained 70% and 82% after 10 cycles of operations in non-solvent system. These characteristics and transesterification capacity of the recombinant protein indicated its great potential for organic synthesis, especially for biodiesel production.

Environmental building policy by the use of microalgae and decreasing of risks for Canadian oil sand sector development

Environmental building recommendations aimed towards new environmental policies and management-changing decisions which as example demonstrated in consideration of the problems of Canadian oil sands operators. For the implementation of the circular economic strategy, we use an in-depth analysis of reported environmental after-consequence on all stages of the production process. The study addressed the promotion of innovative solutions for greenhouse gas emission, waste mitigation, and risk of falling in oil prices for operators of oil sands with creating market opportunities. They include the addition of microalgae biomass in tailings ponds for improvement of the microbial balance for the water speedily cleaning, recycling, and reusing with mitigation of GHG emissions. The use of food scraps for the nutrition of microalgae will reduce greenhouse gas emission minimally, on 0.33 MtCO₂eq for Alberta and 2.63 MtCO₂eq/year for Canada. Microalgae-derived biofuel can reduce this emission for Alberta on 11.9-17.9 MtCO₂eq and for Canada on 71-106 MtCO₂eq/year, and the manufacturing of other products will adsorb up to 135.6 MtCO₂ and produce 99.2 MtO₂. The development of the Live Conserve Industry and principal step from non-efficient protection of the environment to its cultivation in a large scale with mitigation of GHG emission and waste as well as generating of O₂ and value-added products by the use of microalgae opens an important shift towards a new design and building of a biological system.

Presence and transcriptional activity of anaerobic fungi in agricultural biogas plants

Bioaugmentation with anaerobic fungi (AF) is promising for improved biogas generation from lignocelluloses-rich substrates. However, before implementing AF into biogas processes it is necessary to investigate their natural occurrence, community structure and transcriptional activity in agricultural biogas plants. Thus, AF were detected with three specific PCR based methods: (i) Copies of their 18S genes were found in 7 of 10 biogas plants. (ii) Transcripts of a GH5 endoglucanase gene were present at low level in two digesters, indicating transcriptional cellulolytic activity of AF. (iii) Phylogeny of the AF-community was inferred with the 28S gene. A new Piromyces species was isolated from a PCR-positive digester. Evidence for AF was only found in biogas plants operated with high proportions of animal feces. Thus, AF were most likely transferred into digesters with animal derived substrates. Additionally, high process temperatures in combination with long retention times seemed to impede AF survival and activity.

Ecological Insights into the Dynamics of Plant Biomass-Degrading Microbial Consortia

Plant biomass (PB) is an important resource for biofuel production. However, the frequent lack of efficiency of PB saccharification is still an industrial bottleneck. The use of enzyme cocktails produced from PB-degrading microbial consortia (PB-dmc) is a promising approach to optimize this process. Nevertheless, the proper use and manipulation of PB-dmc depends on a sound understanding of the ecological processes and mechanisms that exist in these communities. This Opinion article provides an overview of arguments as to how spatiotemporal nutritional fluxes influence the successional dynamics and ecological interactions (synergism versus competition) between populations in PB-dmc. The themes of niche occupancy, 'sugar cheaters', minimal effective consortium, and the Black Queen Hypothesis are raised as key subjects that foster our appraisal of such systems. Here we provide a conceptual framework that describes the critical topics underpinning the ecological basis of PB-dmc, giving a solid foundation upon which further prospective experimentation can be developed.

Hydrogen or formate: Alternative key players in methanogenic degradation

Hydrogen and formate are important electron carriers in methanogenic degradation in anoxic environments such as sediments, sewage sludge digestors and biogas reactors. Especially in the terminal steps of methanogenesis, they determine the energy budgets of secondary (syntrophically) fermenting bacteria and their methanogenic partners. The literature provides considerable data on hydrogen pool sizes in such habitats, but little data exist for formate concentrations due to technical difficulties in formate determination at low concentration. Recent evidence from biochemical and molecular biological studies indicates that several secondary fermenters can use both hydrogen and formate for electron release, and may do so even simultaneously. Numerous strictly anaerobic bacteria contain enzymes which equilibrate hydrogen and formate pools to energetically equal values, and recent measurements in sewage digestors and biogas reactors indicate that - beyond occasional fluctuations - the pool sizes of hydrogen and formate are indeed energetically nearly equivalent. Nonetheless, a thermophilic archaeon from a submarine hydrothermal vent, Thermococcus onnurineus, can obtain ATP from the conversion of formate to hydrogen plus bicarbonate at 80°C, indicating that at least in this extreme environment the pools of formate and hydrogen are likely to be sufficiently different to support such an unusual type of energy conservation.

Optimization of hydrogen dispersion in thermophilic up-flow reactors for ex situ biogas upgrading

This study evaluates the efficiency of four novel up-flow reactors for ex situ biogas upgrading converting externally provided CO₂ and H₂ to CH₄, via hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. The gases were injected through stainless steel diffusers combined with alumina ceramic sponge or through alumina ceramic membranes. Pore size, input gas loading and gas recirculation flow rate were modulated to optimize gas-liquid mass transfer, and thus methanation efficiency. Results showed that larger pore size diffusion devices achieved the best kinetics and output-gas quality converting all the injected H₂ and CO₂, up to 3.6L/L_REACTOR·d H₂ loading rate. Specifically, reactors' CH₄ content increased from 23 to 96% and the CH₄ yield reached 0.25L_CH4/L_H2. High throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed predominance of bacteria belonging to Anaerobaculum genus and to uncultured order MBA08. Additionally, the massive increase of hydrogenotrophic methanogens, such as Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus, and syntrophic bacteria demonstrates the selection-effect of H₂ on community composition.

Bacteriophage-prokaryote dynamics and interaction within anaerobic digestion processes across time and space

BACKGROUND

Bacteriophage-prokaryote dynamics and interaction are believed to be important in governing microbiome composition and ecosystem functions, yet our limited knowledge of the spatial and temporal variation in phage and prokaryotic community compositions precludes accurate assessment of their roles and impacts. Anaerobic digesters are ideal model systems to examine phage-host interaction, owing to easy access, stable operation, nutrient-rich environment, and consequently enormous numbers of phages and prokaryotic cells.

RESULTS

Equipped with high-throughput, cutting-edge environmental genomics techniques, we examined phage and prokaryotic community composition of four anaerobic digesters in full-scale wastewater treatment plants across China. Despite the relatively stable process performance in biogas production, phage and prokaryotic groups fluctuated monthly over a year of study period, showing significant correlations between those two groups at the α- and β-diversity levels. Strikingly, phages explained 40.6% of total variations of the prokaryotic community composition, much higher than the explanatory power by abiotic factors (14.5%). Consequently, phages were significantly (P < 0.010) linked to parameters related to process performance including biogas production and volatile solid concentrations. Association network analyses showed phage-prokaryote pairs were shallowly conserved since they were detected only within small viral clades.

CONCLUSIONS

Those results collectively demonstrate phages as a major biotic factor in controlling prokaryotic composition and process performance. Therefore, phages may play a larger role in shaping prokaryotic community dynamics and process performance of anaerobic digesters than currently appreciated.

Elucidation of new condition-dependent roles for fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase linked to cofactor balances

The cofactor balances in metabolism is of paramount importance in the design of a metabolic engineering strategy and understanding the regulation of metabolism in general. ATP, NAD⁺ and NADP⁺ balances are central players linking the various fluxes in central metabolism as well as biomass formation. NADP⁺ is especially important in the metabolic engineering of yeasts for xylose fermentation, since NADPH is required by most yeasts in the initial step of xylose utilisation, including the fast-growing Kluyveromyces marxianus. In this simulation study of yeast metabolism, the complex interplay between these cofactors was investigated; in particular, how they may affect the possible roles of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, the pentose phosphate pathway, glycerol production and the pyruvate dehydrogenase bypass. Using flux balance analysis, it was found that the potential role of fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase was highly dependent on the cofactor specificity of the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway and on the carbon source. Additionally, the excessive production of ATP under certain conditions might be involved in some of the phenomena observed, which may have been overlooked to date. Based on these findings, a strategy is proposed for the metabolic engineering of a future xylose-fermenting yeast for biofuel production.

Denitrification of aging biogas slurry from livestock farm by photosynthetic bacteria

Huge amount of aging biogas slurry is in urgent need to be treated properly. However, due to high NH₃-N concentration and low C/N ratio, this aging biogas slurry is refractory for traditional methods. Its denitrification has become a big challenge. In this paper, photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) were employed to handle this problem. The results showed denitrification of aging biogas slurry by PSB treatment was promising. The highest removal efficiency of NH₃-N reached 99.75%, much higher than all other treatments. The removal of NH₃-N followed pseudo zero order reaction under dark-aerobic condition. The better inoculation rate for NH₃-N removal was 30%; and aerobic condition was more beneficial for NH₃-N removal than anaerobic condition because of different metabolic pathways.

Heterologous expression of a thermophilic diacylglycerol acyltransferase triggers triglyceride accumulation in Escherichia coli

Triglycerides (TAGs), the major storage molecules of metabolic energy and source of fatty acids, are produced as single cell oil by some oleogenic microorganisms. However, these microorganisms require strict culture conditions, show low carbon source flexibilities, lack efficient genetic modification tools and in some cases pose safety concerns. TAGs have essential applications such as behaving as a source for added-value fatty acids or giving rise to the production of biodiesel. Hence, new alternative methods are urgently required for obtaining these oils. In this work we describe TAG accumulation in the industrially appropriate microorganism Escherichia coli expressing the heterologous enzyme tDGAT, a wax ester synthase/triacylglycerol:acylCoA acyltranferase (WS/DGAT). With this purpose, we introduce a codon-optimized gene from the thermophilic actinomycete Thermomonospora curvata coding for a WS/DGAT into different E. coli strains, describe the metabolic effects associated to the expression of this protein and evaluate neutral lipid accumulation. We observe a direct relation between the expression of this WS/DGAT and TAG production within a wide range of culture conditions. More than 30% TAGs were detected within the bacterial neutral lipids in 90 minutes after induction. TAGs were observed to be associated with the hydrophobic enzyme while forming round intracytoplasmic bodies, which could represent a bottleneck for lipid accumulation in E. coli. We detected an increase of almost 3-fold in the monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) occurring in the recombinant strains. These MUFA were predominant in the accumulated TAGs achieving 46% of the TAG fatty acids. These results set the basis for further research on the achievement of a suitable method towards the sustainable production of these neutral lipids.

Exploration of the relationship between biogas production and microbial community under high salinity conditions

High salinity frequently causes inhibition and even failure in anaerobic digestion. To explore the impact of increasing NaCl concentrations on biogas production, and reveal the microbial community variations in response to high salinity stress, the Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology was employed. The results showed that a NaCl concentration of 20 g/L (H group) exhibited a similar level of VFAs and specific CO2 production rate with that in the blank group, thus indicating that the bacterial activity in acidogenesis might not be inhibited. However, the methanogenic activity in the H group was significantly affected compared with that in the blank group, causing a 42.2% decrease in CH4 production, a 37.12% reduction in the specific CH4 generation rate and a lower pH value. Illumina sequencing revealed that microbial communities between the blank and H groups were significantly different. Bacteroides, Clostridium and BA021 uncultured were the dominant species in the blank group while some halotolerant genera, such as Thermovirga, Soehngenia and Actinomyces, dominated and complemented the hydrolytic and acidogenetic abilities in the H group. Additionally, the most abundant archaeal species included Methanosaeta, Methanolinea, Methanospirillum and Methanoculleus in both groups, but hydrogenotrophic methanogens showed a lower resistance to high salinity than aceticlastic methanogens.

Enhancement of lipid productivity by adopting multi-stage continuous cultivation strategy in Nannochloropsis gaditana

In the present study, a novel process-based cultivation system was designed to improve lipid productivity of Nannochloropsis gaditana, an oleaginous microalga that has high potential for biofuel production. Specifically, four flat-panel photobioreactors were connected in series, and this system was subjected to continuous chemostat cultivation by feeding fresh medium to the first reactor at dilution rates of 0.028 and 0.056day^-1, which were determined based on Monod kinetics. The results show that the serially connected photobioreactor system achieved 20.0% higher biomass productivity and 46.1% higher fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) productivity than a conventional single photobioreactor with equivalent dilution rate. These results suggest that a process-based approach using serially connected photobioreactors for microalgal cultivation can improve the productivity of lipids that can be used for biofuel production.

Utilization of inulin-containing waste in industrial fermentations to produce biofuels and bio-based chemicals

Inulins are polysaccharides that belong to an important class of carbohydrates known as fructans and are used by many plants as a means of storing energy. Inulins contain 20 to several thousand fructose units joined by β-2,1 glycosidic bonds, typically with a terminal glucose unit. Plants with high concentrations of inulin include: agave, asparagus, coffee, chicory, dahlia, dandelion, garlic, globe artichoke, Jerusalem artichoke, jicama, onion, wild yam, and yacón. To utilize inulin as its carbon and energy source directly, a microorganism requires an extracellular inulinase to hydrolyze the glycosidic bonds to release fermentable monosaccharides. Inulinase is produced by many microorganisms, including species of Aspergillus, Kluyveromyces, Penicillium, and Pseudomonas. We review various inulinase-producing microorganisms and inulin feedstocks with potential for industrial application as well as biotechnological efforts underway to develop sustainable practices for the disposal of residues from processing inulin-containing crops. A multi-stage biorefinery concept is proposed to convert cellulosic and inulin-containing waste produced at crop processing operations to valuable biofuels and bioproducts using Kluyveromyces marxianus, Yarrowia lipolytica, Rhodotorula glutinis, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae as well as thermochemical treatments.

A flexible microbial co-culture platform for simultaneous utilization of methane and carbon dioxide from gas feedstocks

A new co-cultivation technology is presented that converts greenhouse gasses, CH₄ and CO₂, into microbial biomass. The methanotrophic bacterium, Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum 20z, was coupled to a cyanobacterium, Synechococcus PCC 7002 via oxygenic photosynthesis. The system exhibited robust growth on diverse gas mixtures ranging from biogas to those representative of a natural gas feedstock. A continuous processes was developed on a synthetic natural gas feed that achieved steady-state by imposing coupled light and O₂ limitations on the cyanobacterium and methanotroph, respectively. Continuous co-cultivation resulted in an O₂ depleted reactor and does not require CH₄/O₂ mixtures to be fed into the system, thereby enhancing process safety considerations over traditional methanotroph mono-culture platforms. This co-culture technology is scalable with respect to its ability to utilize different gas streams and its biological components constructed from model bacteria that can be metabolically customized to produce a range of biofuels and bioproducts.

Switching cultivation for enhancing biomass and lipid production with extracellular polymeric substance as co-products in Heynigia riparia SX01

Switching cultivation (mixotrophic-heterotrophic, 12h:12h) of Heynigia riparia SX01 was studied, the maximum biomass concentration of 3.55gL^-1 and lipid yield of 1.45gL^-1 were achieved after 8days cultivation. The extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) was developed as co-product. Addition of MgSO₄ could enhance the production of EPS. The highest amount of 0.60gL^-1 EPS was obtained with the addition of 2gL^-1 MgSO₄, the self-flocculation efficiency was as high as 83% at this condition. The total lipid and lipid fractions did not show differences with extra MgSO₄. Based on the above results, a new biodiesel production model was proposed: culturing Heynigia riparia SX01 with extra 2gL^-1 MgSO₄ by switching cultivation and using self flocculation to collect microalgae for biodiesel production, while EPS was collected as valuable co-products.

High-strength fermentable wastewater reclamation through a sequential process of anaerobic fermentation followed by microalgae cultivation

In this study, the sequential process of anaerobic fermentation followed by microalgae cultivation was evaluated from both nutrient and energy recovery standpoints. The effects of different fermentation type on the biogas generation, broth metabolites' composition, algal growth and nutrients' utilization, and energy conversion efficiencies for the whole processes were discussed. When the fermentation was designed to produce hydrogen-dominating biogas, the total energy conversion efficiency (TECE) of the sequential process was higher than that of the methane fermentation one. With the production of hydrogen in anaerobic fermentation, more organic carbon metabolites were left in the broth to support better algal growth with more efficient incorporation of ammonia nitrogen. By applying the sequential process, the heat value conversion efficiency (HVCE) for the wastewater could reach 41.2%, if methane was avoided in the fermentation biogas. The removal efficiencies of organic metabolites and NH₄⁺-N in the better case were 100% and 98.3%, respectively.

Bioethanol production from cellulosic hydrolysates by engineered industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Even though industrial yeast strains exhibit numerous advantageous traits for the production of bioethanol, their genetic manipulation has been limited. This study demonstrates that an industrial polyploidy Saccharomyces cerevisiae JHS200 can be engineered through Cas9 (CRISPR associated protein 9)-based genome editing. Specifically, we generated auxotrophic mutants and introduced a xylose metabolic pathway into the auxotrophic mutants. As expected, the engineered strain (JX123) enhanced ethanol production from cellulosic hydrolysates as compared to other engineered haploid strains. However, the JX123 strain produced substantial amounts of xylitol as a by-product during xylose fermentation. Hypothesizing that the xylitol accumulation might be caused by intracellular redox imbalance from cofactor difference, the NADH oxidase from Lactococcus lactis was introduced into the JX123 strain. The resulting strain (JX123_noxE) not only produced more ethanol, but also produced xylitol less than the JX123 strain. These results suggest that industrial polyploidy yeast can be modified for producing biofuels and chemicals.

Effect of fulvic acid induction on the physiology, metabolism, and lipid biosynthesis-related gene transcription of Monoraphidium sp. FXY-10

Fulvic acid (FA) triggers lipid accumulation in Monoraphidium sp. FXY-10, which can produce biofuels. Therefore, the metabolism shift and gene expression changes influenced by fulvic acid should be investigated. In this study, lipid and protein contents increased rapidly from 44.6% to 54.3% and from 31.4% to 39.7% under FA treatment, respectively. By contrast, carbohydrate content sharply declined from 49.5% to 32.5%. The correlation between lipid content and gene expression was also analyzed. Results revealed that accD, ME, and GPAT genes were significantly correlated with lipid accumulation. These genes could likely influence lipid accumulation and could be selected as modification candidates. These results demonstrated that FA significantly increased microalgal lipid accumulation by changing the intracellular reactive oxygen species, gene expression, and enzyme activities of acetyl-CoA carboxylase, malic enzyme, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase.

Comparison of six methods for the recovery of PCR-compatible microbial DNA from an agricultural biogas plant

Six different commercial methods were compared to evaluate their efficiency in recovering high quantity/quality PCR compatible microbial DNA from an agricultural biogas plant. Within the last two decades, biogas plants have been developed to produce energy from organic wastes and from devoted biomass. The complex biotransformations are performed by a diverse consortium of microorganisms that is an important reserve of genes and enzymatic activities with a huge range of applications in various commercial fields. In this respect, the ability to isolate DNA from a complex matrix is of high importance. Important parameters of the recovered DNA are good yield, purity, and quality. The methods examined showed considerable differences about quantity and quality of the recovered DNA and, usually, it was observed that a higher amount was accompanied by more degradation. DNA purity was determined by its PCR amplificability. Only two methods were able to provide DNA pure enough to be directly amplified. For the rest of the methods, a few intermediate steps such as dilution and/or the addition of polyvinylpyrrolidone were necessary to remove the inhibitors present and to amplify the DNA. Real-time PCR analysis evidenced that, as expected, prokaryotic DNA was much more abundant than eukaryotic DNA, but some methods were more suited to recovering prokaryotic or eukaryotic DNA. The digestion analysis of ribosomal DNA amplicons confirmed the influence of the methods on the final output, allowing the recovery of only a fraction of the present species as determined by sequencing a small prokaryotic and eukaryotic ribosomal library.