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•Barriers to microalgal mass cultivation depend on the value of the final product.•Low value products such as biofuels have the greatest barriers to production.•Different cultivation ...systems and strategies present a subset of barriers.
Economically successful microalgal mass cultivation is dependent on overcoming several barriers that contribute to the cost of production. The severity of these barriers is dependent on the market value of the final product. These barriers prevent the commercially viable production of algal biofuels but are also faced by any producers of any algal product. General barriers include the cost of water and limits on recycling, costs and recycling of nutrients, CO2 utilization, energy costs associated with harvesting and biomass loss due to biocontamination and pond crashes. In this paper, recent advances in overcoming these barriers are discussed.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Parasites are now known to be ubiquitous across biological systems and can play an important role in modulating algal populations. However, there is a lack of extensive information on their role in ...artificial ecosystems such as algal production ponds and photobioreactors. Parasites have been implicated in the demise of algal blooms. Because individual mass culture systems often tend to be unialgal and a select few algal species are in wide scale application, there is an increased potential for parasites to have a devastating effect on commercial scale monoculture. As commercial algal production continues to expand with a widening variety of applications, including biofuel, food and pharmaceuticals, the parasites associated with algae will become of greater interest and potential economic impact. A number of important algal parasites have been identified in algal mass culture systems in the last few years and this number is sure to grow as the number of commercial algae ventures increases. Here, we review the research that has identified and characterized parasites infecting mass cultivated algae, the techniques being proposed and or developed to control them, and the potential impact of parasites on the future of the algal biomass industry.
Algae ponds used in industrial biomass production are susceptible to pathogen or grazer infestation, resulting in pond crashes with high economic costs. Current methods to monitor and mitigate ...unhealthy ponds are hindered by a lack of early indicators that precede culture crash. We used solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify volatiles emitted from healthy and rotifer infested cultures of Microchloropsis salina. After 48 hours of algal growth, marine rotifers, Brachionus plicatilis, were added to the algae cultures and volatile organic compounds (VOC) were sampled from the headspace using SPME fibers. A GC-MS approach was used in an untargeted analysis of VOCs, followed by preliminary identification. The addition of B. plicatilis to healthy cultures of M. salina resulted in decreased algal cell numbers, relative to uninfected controls, and generated trans-β-ionone and β-cyclocitral, which were attributed to carotenoid degradation. The abundances of the carotenoid-derived VOCs increased with rotifer consumption of algae. Our results indicate that specific VOCs released by infected algae cultures may be early indicators for impending pond crashes, providing a useful tool to monitor algal biomass production and pond crash prevention.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
While algae demonstrate potential as a sustainable fuel source, low productivities limit the economic realization of algal biofuels. High-throughput strain engineering, omics-informed genome-scale ...modeling, and microbiome engineering are key technologies for enabling algal biofuels. High-throughput strain engineering efforts generate improved traits, including high biomass productivity and lipid content, in diverse algal species. Genome-scale models, constructed with the aid of omics data, provide insight into metabolic limitations and guide rational algal strain engineering efforts. As outdoor cultivation systems introduce exogenous organisms, microbiome engineering seeks to eliminate harmful organisms and introduce beneficial species. Optimizing algal biomass production and lipid content using these technologies may overcome the productivity barrier for the commercialization of algal biofuels.
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•High-throughput strain engineering increases algal biomass production and lipid content.•Genome-scale models with omics data advance rational algal strain engineering.•Engineering algal pond microbiomes improves biomass production and lowers nutrient cost.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Empiric enoxaparin dosing is inadequate for most trauma patients, leading to below target initial anti-Xa levels and requiring dose adjustment for optimal venous thromboembolism prophylaxis. We ...hypothesize that patient factors affecting initial anti-Xa levels can be identified based on drug pharmacokinetics, allowing creation of a new dosing protocol that will provide a higher percentage of in-target (0.2-0.4 IU/mL) patients at initial anti-Xa level assessment.
Records of 318 trauma patients were evaluated, and NONMEM and PSN software were used to analyze 11 variables for their effects on anti-Xa levels. Computer modeling was used to select a new dosing protocol, which was implemented on the trauma service as a quality improvement project. The first 145 patients appropriately enrolled were assessed for response and complications.
Only 29.5% of the pre-intervention group had initial anti-Xa levels in the appropriate prophylactic range (). Levels were most strongly influenced by patient weight, outweighing contributions from all other variables. A new regimen for initial dosing was therefore designed with three weight-defined categories for ease of administration. The post-intervention group showed an increase in in-target initial anti-Xa levels to 74.5% (p < 0.001), with a corresponding decrease in subprophylactic patients from 68.0% to 20.7%. There was an increase in supraprophylactic levels to 4.8%, but no supraprophylactic patients had hemorrhagic complications.(Figure is included in full-text article.) CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a new, categorized, weight-based enoxaparin dosing protocol was safe and significantly improved the percentage of trauma patients with in-target anti-Xa levels on initial assessment. Further studies are needed to determine whether such dosing decreases venous thromboembolism rates.
Therapeutic/care management study, level II.
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•A closed-loop system of fusel alcohol production and nutrient recycling.•3.8 g/L of mixed fusel alcohols were produced from M. salina hydrolysates.•Cellular N and P remineralized ...from algae biomass was recovered as struvite.•Struvite was recycled for subsequent algae cultivation as the major N/P nutrient.
Improving the economic feasibility is necessary for algae-based processes to achieve commercial scales for biofuels and bioproducts production. A closed-loop system for fusel alcohol production from microalgae biomass with integrated nutrient recycling was developed, which enables the reuse of nitrogen and phosphorus for downstream application and thus reduces the operational requirement for external major nutrients. Mixed fusel alcohols, primarily isobutanol and isopentanol were produced from Microchloropsis salina hydrolysates by an engineered E. coli co-culture. During the process, cellular nitrogen from microalgae biomass was converted into ammonium, whereas cellular phosphorus was liberated by an osmotic shock treatment. The formation of struvite from the liberated ammonium and phosphate, and the subsequent utilization of struvite to support M. salina cultivation was demonstrated. The closed loop system established here should help overcome one of the identified economic barriers to scale-up of microalgae production, and enhance the sustainability of microalgae-based chemical commodities production.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Aims/hypothesis
Prediabetes is associated with postprandial hypertriacylglycerolaemia. Resistance exercise acutely lowers postprandial plasma triacylglycerol (TG); however, the changes in lipid ...metabolism that mediate this reduction are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to identify the constitutive metabolic mechanisms underlying the changes in postprandial lipid metabolism after resistance exercise in obese men with prediabetes.
Methods
We evaluated the effect of a single bout of whole-body resistance exercise (seven exercises, three sets, 10–12 repetitions at 80% of one-repetition maximum) on postprandial lipid metabolism in ten middle-aged (50 ± 9 years), overweight/obese (BMI: 33 ± 3 kg/m
2
), sedentary men with prediabetes (HbA
1c
>38 but <48 mmol/mol >5.7% but <6.5%), or fasting plasma glucose >5.6 mmol/l but <7.0 mmol/l or 2 h OGTT glucose >7.8 mmol/l but <11.1 mmol/l). We used a randomised, crossover design with a triple-tracer mixed meal test (ingested (
13
C
4
)
3
tripalmitin, i.v. U-
13
C
16
palmitate and
2
H
5
glycerol) to evaluate chylomicron-TG and total triacylglycerol-rich lipoprotein (TRL)-TG kinetics. We used adipose tissue and skeletal muscle biopsies to evaluate the expression of genes regulating lipolysis and lipid oxidation, skeletal muscle respirometry to evaluate oxidative capacity, and indirect calorimetry to assess whole-body lipid oxidation.
Results
The single bout of resistance exercise reduced the lipaemic response to a mixed meal in obese men with prediabetes without changing chylomicron-TG or TRL-TG fractional clearance rates. However, resistance exercise reduced endogenous and meal-derived fatty acid incorporation into chylomicron-TG and TRL-TG. Resistance exercise also increased whole-body lipid oxidation, skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiration, oxidative gene expression in skeletal muscle, and the expression of key lipolysis genes in adipose tissue.
Conclusions/interpretation
A single bout of resistance exercise improves postprandial lipid metabolism in obese men with prediabetes, which may mitigate the risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is emerging as a powerful tool for elucidating genetic information for a wide range of applications. Unfortunately, the surging popularity of NGS has not yet been ...accompanied by an improvement in automated techniques for preparing formatted sequencing libraries. To address this challenge, we have developed a prototype microfluidic system for preparing sequencer-ready DNA libraries for analysis by Illumina sequencing. Our system combines droplet-based digital microfluidic (DMF) sample handling with peripheral modules to create a fully-integrated, sample-in library-out platform. In this report, we use our automated system to prepare NGS libraries from samples of human and bacterial genomic DNA. E. coli libraries prepared on-device from 5 ng of total DNA yielded excellent sequence coverage over the entire bacterial genome, with >99% alignment to the reference genome, even genome coverage, and good quality scores. Furthermore, we produced a de novo assembly on a previously unsequenced multi-drug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strain BAA-2146 (KpnNDM). The new method described here is fast, robust, scalable, and automated. Our device for library preparation will assist in the integration of NGS technology into a wide variety of laboratories, including small research laboratories and clinical laboratories.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Although substantial economic barriers exist, marine diatoms such as Thalassiosira pseudonana and Phaeodactylum tricornutum hold promise as feedstock for biodiesel because of their ability to ...manufacture and store triacylglycerols (TAGs). The recent sequencing of these two marine diatom genomes by the United States Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute and the development of improved systems for genetic manipulation should allow a more systematic approach to understanding and maximizing TAG production. However, in order to best utilize these genomes and genetic tools, we must first gain a deeper understanding of the nutrient-mediated regulation of TAG anabolism. By determining both the yield and molecular species distribution of TAGs we will, in the future, be able to fully characterize the effects of genetic manipulation. Here, we lay the groundwork for understanding TAG production in T. pseudonana and P. tricornutum, as a function of nitrate and silicate depletion. Diatoms were starved of either nitrate or silicate, and TAGs were extracted with hexane from lyophilized samples taken at various time intervals following starvation. The timing of TAG production and the relative abundance of TAGs were estimated by fluorescence spectroscopy using Nile red and the total yield per biomass determined by gravimetric assay. TAGs were analyzed using thin layer chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry to identify the major TAG species produced during the growth curve. Under our conditions, the TAG yield from T. pseudonana is about 14-18% of total dry weight. The TAG yield from P. tricornutum is about 14% of total dry weight. Silicate-starved T. pseudonana accumulated an average of 24% more TAGs than those starved for nitrate; however, the chemotypes of the TAGs produced were generally similar regardless of the starvation condition employed.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
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•N/P supplementation by crude struvite performs at least as well as standard media.•More efficient utilization of P per unit biomass from struvite.•Crude struvite contains the trace ...metal requirement for N. salina and P. tricornutum.•Culture of algae on struvite results in elevated per cell pigment concentration.
The suitability of crude and purified struvite (MgNH4PO4), a major precipitate in wastewater streams, was investigated for renewable replacement of conventional nitrogen and phosphate resources for cultivation of microalgae. Bovine effluent wastewater stone, the source of crude struvite, was characterized for soluble N/P, trace metals, and biochemical components and compared to the purified mineral. Cultivation trials using struvite as a major nutrient source were conducted using two microalgae production strains, Nannochloropsis salina and Phaeodactylum tricornutum, in both lab and outdoor pilot-scale raceways in a variety of seasonal conditions. Both crude and purified struvite-based media were found to result in biomass productivities at least as high as established media formulations (maximum outdoor co-culture yield ∼20±4gAFDW/m2/day). Analysis of nutrient uptake by the alga suggest that struvite provides increased nutrient utilization efficiency, and that crude struvite satisfies the trace metals requirement and results in increased pigment productivity for both microalgae strains.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
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