Abstract
Purpose
CO2 fixation methods using green algae have attracted considerable attention because they can be applied for the fixation of dilute CO2 in the atmosphere. However, green algae generally exhibit low CO2 fixation efficiency under atmospheric conditions. Therefore, it is a challenge to improve the CO2 fixation efficiency of green algae under atmospheric conditions. Co-cultivation of certain microalgae with heterotrophic microorganisms can increase the growth potential of microalgae under atmospheric conditions. The objective of this study was to determine the culture conditions under which the growth potential of green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is enhanced by co-culturing with the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and to identify the cause of the enhanced growth potential.
Results
When C. reinhardtii and S. cerevisiae were co-cultured with an initial green algae to yeast inoculum ratio of 1:3, the cell concentration of C. reinhardtii reached 133 × 105 cells/mL on day 18 of culture, which was 1.5 times higher than that of the monoculture. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the expression levels of 363 green algae and 815 yeast genes were altered through co-cultivation. These included genes responsible for ammonium transport and CO2 enrichment mechanism in green algae and the genes responsible for glycolysis and stress responses in yeast.
Conclusion
We successfully increased C. reinhardtii growth potential by co-culturing it with S. cerevisiae. The main reasons for this are likely to be an increase in inorganic nitrogen available to green algae via yeast metabolism and an increase in energy available for green algae growth instead of CO2 enrichment.
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Data Availability
The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The green alga, C. reinhardtii NIES-2238, was provided by NIES through the NBRP of MEXT (Japan). We would like to thank Editage for the English language editing.
Funding
This study was partially supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (grant number: JP22H03803) and Kurata Grants by The Hitachi Global Foundation.
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YK: Investigation, writing–original draft; RY: Conceptualization, writing–original draft, writing–review and editing, supervision, funding acquisition; TM and HO: Supervision.
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Karitani, Y., Yamada, R., Matsumoto, T. et al. Improvement of cell growth in green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii through co-cultivation with yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biotechnol Lett 46, 431–441 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-024-03483-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-024-03483-2