• 한국해양바이오학회지
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.34-39
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• 2006

Molecular biology and microalgal biotechnology have the potential to play a major role in improving the production efficiency of a vast variety of products including functional foods, industrial chemicals, compounds with therapeutic applications and bioremediation solutions from a virtually untapped source. Microalgae are a source of natural products and have been recently studied for biotechnological applications. Efficient genetic transformation systems in microalgae are necessary to enhance their potential to be used for human health. A microalga such as Chlarella is a eukaryotic organism sharing its metabolic pathways with higher plants. This microalga is capable of expressing, glycosylating, and correctly processing proteins which normally undergo post-translational modification. Moreover, it can be cultured inexpensively because it requires only limited amount of sunlight and carbon dioxide as energy sources. Because of these advantages, Chlarella may be of great potential interest in biotechnology as a good candidate for bioreactor in the production of pharmaceutical and industrial compounds for human functional foods. Here, we briefly discuss recent progress in microalgal transgenesis that has utilized molecular biology to produce functional proteins and bioactive compounds.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• 제10권5호
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• pp.418-424
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• 2005

The complexity of the biological system/biological systems has been fascinating and challenging for a long time. With the advent of mathematical tools with various omics technology, systems biology was born and is already ubiquitous in every area of biology and biotechnology. Microalgal biotechnology is no exception in this new trend. As tens of microalgal genomes become publicly available on the Internet, vast amounts of data from genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics are reported everyday. Though there has not yet been enough data gathered on microalgal metabolomics, the in silica models for relatively simple cyanobacteria or for organelles, such as chloroplasts, will appear presently. With the help of systems biology, a more in-depth understanding of microalgae will be possible. Consequently, most industrially-interested microalgae can be metabolically redesigned/reconfigured as cell factories. Microalgae will be served as the hosts in white biotechnology.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제25권5호
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• pp.637-647
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• 2015

In this study, we attempted to understand signaling pathways behind lipid biosynthesis by employing a chemical genetics approach based on small molecule inhibitors. Specific signaling inhibitors of MAP kinase or modulators of cAMP signaling were selected to evaluate the functional roles of each of the key signaling pathways in three different microalgal species: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella vulgaris, and Haematococcus pluvialis. Our results clearly indicate that cAMP signaling pathways are indeed positively associated with microalgal lipid biosynthesis. In contrast, MAP kinase pathways in three microalgal species are all negatively implicated in both lipid and carotenoid biosynthesis.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• 제8권6호
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• pp.360-367
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• 2003

Our research objectives are to determine under what conditions microalgal-based $CO_2$capture from flue gases is economically attractive. Specifically, our objective here was to select microalgae that are temperature, pH and flue gas tolerant. Microalgae were grown under five different temperatures, three different pH and five different flue gas mixtures besides 100% $CO_2$(gas concentrations that the cells were exposed to ranged 5.7-100% $CO_2$, 0-3504ppm SO$_2$, 0-328ppm NO, and 0-126ppm NO$_2$). Our results indicate that the microalgal strains tested exhibit a substantial ability to withstand a wide range of temperature (54 strains tested), pH (20 strains tested) and flue gas composition (24 strains tested) likely to be encountered in cultures used for carbon sequestration from smoke stack gases. Our results indicate that microalgal photosynthesis is a limited but viable strategy for $CO_2$capture from flue gases produced by stationary combustion sources.

• 환경생물
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• 제31권2호
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• pp.61-68
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• 2013

Microalgae can grow autotrophically with the supply of light, carbon dioxide and inorganic nutrients in water through photosynthesis. Generally, microalgal growth is limited by the concentrations and relative ratio of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) among the nutrients in the aquatic environment. Each microalga has its specific optimum N : P ratio resulting in dominance in a particular water having similar nutrient composition. Algal bloom is an immense growth of certain microalga commonly cyanobacterium and can be sequestrated by reducing the limiting nutrient, generally P in the freshwater. Moreover, dominance of a less toxic blooming strain can be established by manipulating N : P ratio in the water. On the other hand, microalgal biomass of a certain species can be enhanced by increasing limiting nutrient and adjusting the N : P ratio to the target species. The above-mentioned eco-physiological features of microalgae can be more completely interpreted in connection with their genomic informations. Consequently, microalgal growth regulation which can be achieved on the basis of its eco-physiological and further genomic insights would be helpful not only in the control of algal bloom, but also for an increased yield of algal biomass.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제28권4호
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• pp.630-637
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• 2018

The high rate algal ponds (HRAP) powered and mixed by a paddlewheel have been widely used for over 50 years to culture microalgae for the production of various products. Since light incidence is limited to the surface, water depth can affect microalgal growth in HRAP. To investigate the effect of water depth on microalgal growth, a mixed microalgal culture constituting three major strains of microalgae including Chlorella sp., Scenedesmus sp., and Stigeoclonium sp. (CSS), was grown at different water depths (20, 30, and 40 cm) in the HRAP, respectively. The HRAP with 20cm of water depth had about 38% higher biomass productivity per unit area ($6.16{\pm}0.33g{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}d^{-1}$) and required lower nutrients and energy consumption than the other water depths. Specifically, the algal biomass of HRAP under 20cm of water depth had higher settleability through larger floc size (83.6% settleability within 5 min). These results indicate that water depth can affect the harvesting process as well as cultivation of microalgae. Therefore, we conclude that water depth is an important parameter in HRAP design for mass cultivation of microalgae.

• 미생물학회지
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• 제48권3호
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• pp.192-199
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• 2012

미세조류는 광합성을 통하여 바이오디젤과 같은 부가가치상품을 생산할 수 있으며, 미세조류를 이용한 생명공학 기술이 주목 받고 있다. 그러나 질소원과 탄소원은 미세조류 배양 비용을 높여 충분한 바이오매스 생산에 제한요소가 되고 있다. 미세조류를 배양하는데 도시하수를 이용하는 것은 생산단가를 낮추는 좋은 대안이 될 수 있으며, 본 연구에서는 옥외 수질정화 배양 시스템(mini raceway open pond)을 이용하여 적용했다. 실험에 사용한 도시하수는 하수종말처리장의 1차 침전지를 거친 유입수를 이용하였으며, 토착 미세조류를 mini raceway open pond에서 배양하였다. 체류시간 6일의 운전 후 TN, TP, COD-$_{Mn}$, $NH_3$-N의 평균 제거 효율은 80.18%, 63.56%, 76.34%, 96.74%로 각각 나타났다. 18S rRNA gene 분석결과 녹조류인 Chlorella, Scenedesmus가 우점하였으며, 16S rRNA gene 분석결과 Rhodobacter, Luteimonas, Agrobacterium, Thauera, Porphyrobacte의 5종의 bacteria가 동정되었다. 이러한 결과를 통하여 미세조류를 이용한 호기성 처리나 과도한 발전비용 없이 효과적인 하수처리를 할 수 있는 가능성을 확인하였다. 그리고 도시하수는 미세조류 배양에 필요한 탄소원과 질소원을 제공할 수 있으며 미세조류 바이오매스는 상업적 목적으로 이용될 수 있는 가능성을 확인할 수 있었다.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
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• 제46권4호
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• pp.377-389
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• 2018

In this study, a novel microalgal strain, Desmodesmus sp. KAERI-NJ5, was isolated, identified, and evaluated as a candidate for biodiesel feedstock. In a preliminary study, the effects of four general microalgal growth factors, including temperature, pH, light intensity, and concentration of nitrogen source ($KNO_3$), on the microalgal photoautotrophic growth were evaluated. With the exception of light intensity, the growth factors needed to be optimized for the microalgal biomass production. Optimization was done using response surface methodology. The optimal conditions for biomass production were pH 6.54, $27.66^{\circ}C$, and 0.52 g/l $KNO_3$. The biomass production at the optimal conditions was 1.55 g/l, which correlated well with the predicted value of 1.5 g/l. The total lipid and fatty acid methyl ester contents of the cells grown at the optimal conditions were 49% and 21.2% of cell dry weight, respectively. To increase the lipid content of the biomass, microalgae were challenged by nitrogen starvation. Enhancement of total lipid and fatty acid content up to 52.02% and 49%, respectively, were observed. Lipid analysis of the nitrogen-starved cells revealed that C16 and C18 species accounted for 95.9% of the total fatty acids. Among them, palmitic acid (46.17%) and oleic acid (39.43%) dominantly constituted the algal fatty acids. These results suggest Desmodesmus sp. KAERI-NJ5 as a promising feedstock for biodiesel production.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제33권9호
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• pp.1250-1256
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• 2023

Herein, different extracts of Scenedesmus deserticola JD052, a green microalga, were evaluated in vitro as a potential anti-aging bioagent. Although post-treatment of microalgal culture with either UV irradiation or high light illumination did not lead to a substantial difference in the effectiveness of microalgal extracts as a potential anti-UV agent, the results indicated the presence of a highly potent compound in ethyl acetate extract with more than 20% increase in the cellular viability of normal human dermal fibroblasts (nHDFs) compared with the negative control amended with DMSO. The subsequent fractionation of the ethyl acetate extract led to two bioactive fractions with high anti-UV property; one of the fractions was further separated down to a single compound. While electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy analysis identified this single compound as loliolide, its identification has been rarely reported in microalgae previously, prompting thorough systematic investigations into this novel compound for the nascent microalgal industry.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• 제8권6호
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• pp.331-337
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• 2003

Unicellular green algae of the genus Dunaliella thrive in extreme environmental conditions such as high salinity, low pH, high irradiance and subzero temperatures. Species of Dunaliella are well known in the alga biotechnological industry and are employed widely for the production of valuable biochemicals, such as carotenoids. Some strains of Dunaliella are cultivated commercially in large outdoor ponds and are harvested to produce dry algal meals, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids and oils for the health food industry, and coloring agents for the food and cosmetic industries. During the past decade, the advances in molecular biology and biochemistry of microalgae, along with the advances in biotechnology of microalgal mass cultivation, enabled this microalga to become a staple of commercial exploitation. In particular, the advent of molecular biology and mutagenesis in Dunaliella has permitted enhancements in the carotenoids content of this green alga, making it more attractive for biotechnological applications. Accordingly, the present review summarizes the recent developments and advances in biotechnology of carotenoid production in Dunaliella.