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Efficient production of fatty acid methyl esters by a wastewater-isolated microalgae-yeast co-culture

  • Advances in Environmental Biotechnology and Engineering 2018
  • Published:
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Abstract

Improving the competitiveness of biodiesel production by microalgae cultures requires the application of several strategies to obtain a high content of lipids, rapid biomass growth and a capacity to adapt to different kinds of environment, with the aim of using non-renewable nutrient sources. Therefore, the use of an individual indigenous microalgae strain or a consortium from natural or anthropogenic sites is now considered an alternative for biofuel production. This study examined the temporal behaviour of secondary metabolites produced by a native microalgae and yeast consortium isolated from wastewater, which was characterized by a genetic identification method based on the MiSeq system. The predominant species in the consortium was Scenedesmus obliquus, representing 68% of the organisms. In addition, the consortium contained a number of yeast species, including Candida pimensis (43%), Arthroderma vanbreuseghemii (23%), Diaporthe aspalathi/Diaporthe meridionalis (25%) and Hericium americanum (3%). This indigenous co-culture of microalgae and yeast showed biomass productivity of 0.06 g l−1 day−1, with a content of 30% (w/w) carbohydrates, 4% (w/w) proteins and 55% (w/w) lipids. Transesterification of the extracted lipids produced fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), which were analysed by gas chromatography (GC). The FAMEs included methyl pentadecanoate (1.90%), cis-10-pentanedecanoic acid methyl ester (1.36%), methyl palmitate (2.64%), methyl palmitoleate (21.36%), methyl oleate (64.95%), methyl linolenate (3.83%) and methyl linolelaidate (3.95%). This composition was relevant for biodiesel production based on the co-culture of indigenous microalgae and yeast consortia.

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Acknowledgements

We give special acknowledgements to the Laboratorio Nacional de Desarrollo y Aseguramiento de la Calidad de Biocombustibles (LaNDACBio) and Centro de Innovación en Insumos para Bioenergéticos y Co-productos (CIBIOC) for allowing the use of laboratory infrastructure.

Funding

This research was financially supported by CONACYT-Project No. 255107 and SIP-IPN multidisciplinary Project No. 2019-2011-SIP-20195299.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Mexicano para la Producción más Limpia, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Av. Acueducto s/n, Col. La Laguna Ticomán, 07340, Mexico City, Mexico

    Jessica K. Suastes-Rivas, Raúl Hernández-Altamirano & Violeta Y. Mena-Cervantes

  2. Laboratorio Nacional de Desarrollo y Aseguramiento de la Calidad de Biocombustibles (LaNDACBio), Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 07340, Mexico City, Mexico

    Jessica K. Suastes-Rivas, Raúl Hernández-Altamirano & Violeta Y. Mena-Cervantes

  3. Unidad de Energía Renovable, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán A.C, Merida, Yucatán, Mexico

    Ruby Valdez-Ojeda & Tanit Toledano-Thompson

  4. Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (CIIEMAD), 30 de junio de 1520 s/n, La Laguna Ticomán, 07340, Mexico City, Mexico

    Luis R. Tovar-Gálvez

  5. Facultad de Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Merida, Yucatán, Mexico

    Silvia López-Adrián

  6. Departamento de Bioprocesos, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Unidad Profesional Interdisciplinaria de Biotecnología, Av. Acueducto s/n, Col. La Laguna Ticomán, 07340, Mexico City, Mexico

    Isaac Chairez

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  1. Jessica K. Suastes-Rivas
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Correspondence to Raúl Hernández-Altamirano.

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Suastes-Rivas, J.K., Hernández-Altamirano, R., Mena-Cervantes, V.Y. et al. Efficient production of fatty acid methyl esters by a wastewater-isolated microalgae-yeast co-culture. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 28490–28499 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-07286-1

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