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Influence of nutrient status on the biohydrogen and lipid productivity in Parachlorella kessleri: a biorefinery approach

  • Bioenergy and biofuels
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Abstract

The commercial reality of microalgal biotechnology for the production of individual bioactives is constrained by the high cost of production and requires a biorefinery approach. In this investigation, we examined the influence of different nutrient deprivation (nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), sulphur (S) and manganese (Mn)) on growth, chlorophyll a (Chl a), biohydrogen (H2) and fatty acid profiles in Parachlorella kessleri EMCCN 3073 under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Anaerobic conditions combined with the nutrient deprivation resulted in cell division blockage, reduction in Chl a and remarkable changes in pH, whereas a significant increase in the H2 production was observed after 24 h. The highest cumulative H2 productivity was observed in N-deficient medium (300 μL/L, day 9) followed by Mn-deficient medium (250 μL/L, day 7). The highest H2 production rate (3.37 μL/L/h) was achieved by Mn-deficient medium after 24 h. In terms of fatty acid composition, P. kessleri exhibited a differential response to different nutrient stresses. Under aerobic conditions, N-deficient media resulted in the highest lipid content (119% compared to control, day 7), whereas earlier lipid induction at (1–3 days) was observed with Mn- and S-deficient media with 18–91% and 25–34% increase, respectively, compared with the replete control. Meanwhile, higher lipid content was observed under anaerobic conditions combined with Mn-, N-, P- and S-deprived media (day 1) with 20%, 13%, 8% and 7% increases respectively compared with the control. This investigation, for the first time clearly, highlights the potential of P. kessleri as a sustainable biorefinery platform, for H2 and fatty acid bio-production under anaerobic conditions.

Key points

• Parachlorella kessleri could provide a future sustainable biorefinery platform.

• Nutrient-deprived anaerobic conditions blocked cell growth but differentially induced H 2 production.

• Nutrient status, under both aerobic/anaerobic conditions, alters lipids and fatty acids profile of P. kessleri.

• Nutrient-deprived (N- and Mn-) anaerobic conditions: future biorefinery platform.

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Funding

The authors acknowledge financial support from Science, Technology and Development fund (STDF), Egyptian State Ministry for Scientific Research with the project number 27655. Support of the EPSRC for ChELSI is also acknowledged (EP/E036252/1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soil Microbiology Department, Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute, Agricultural Research Centre, P.O.175, El-Orman, Giza, Egypt

    Seham M. Hamed

  2. Advanced Biomanufacturing Centre, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of Sheffield, S1 3JD, Sheffield, UK

    Seham M. Hamed, Rahul Vijay Kapoore, Mahendra P. Raut & Seetharaman Vaidyanathan

  3. School of Engineering, Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, Devonshire Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

    Seham M. Hamed

  4. Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK

    Rahul Vijay Kapoore & Phillip C. Wright

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  1. Seham M. Hamed
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  2. Rahul Vijay Kapoore
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  3. Mahendra P. Raut
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  4. Seetharaman Vaidyanathan
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Contributions

SMH and RVK designed the experimental approach, analysed the data and wrote the manuscript. RVK contributed to the analysis of the lipid content in the samples. SMH and MPR contributed to the analysis of the H2 and carried out an anaerobic set of experiments. RVK and SMH generated all the figures in the manuscript. PCW and SV supervised the project and coordinated the effort. All authors wrote, read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Seham M. Hamed.

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Joint first authors are Seham M. Hamed, Rahul Vijay Kapoore and Mahendra P. Raut

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Hamed, S.M., Kapoore, R.V., Raut, M.P. et al. Influence of nutrient status on the biohydrogen and lipid productivity in Parachlorella kessleri: a biorefinery approach. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 104, 10293–10305 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-020-10930-3

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