Abstract
In this study, Rhodosporidium toruloides and Tetradesmus obliquus were used for lipid and carotenoid production in mixed cultures using primary brewery wastewater (PBWW) as a culture medium, supplemented with sugarcane molasses (SCM) as a carbon source and urea as a nitrogen source. To improve biomass, lipid, and carotenoid production by R. toruloides and T. obliquus mixed cultures, initial SCM concentrations ranging from 10 to 280 g L−1 were tested. The medium that allowed higher lipid content (26.2% w/w dry cell weight (DCW)) and higher carotenoid productivity (10.47 µg L−1 h−1) was the PBWW medium supplemented with 100 g L−1 of SCM and 2 g L−1 of urea, which was further used in the fed-batch mixed cultivation performed in a 7-L bioreactor. A maximum biomass concentration of 58.6 g L−1 and maximum lipid content of 31.2% w/w DCW were obtained in the fed-batch cultivation. PBWW supplemented with SCM was successfully used as a low-cost medium to produce lipids and carotenoids in a R. toruloides and T. obliquus mixed culture, with higher productivities than in pure cultures, which can significantly reduce the cost of the biofuels obtained.
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Data Availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors also thank the Biomass and Bioenergy Research Infrastructure (BBRI)-LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-022059, which is supported by the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (PORTUGAL2020), by the Lisbon Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Lisboa 2020), and by the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (Norte 2020) under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The authors thank Céu Penedo for HPLC support, Daniel Figueiredo for microscopic observations and Nile Red fluorescence microscopy support, Doctor Luísa Gouveia for the kind supply of the Tetradesmus obliquus ACOI 204/07 strain, Graça Gomes for the microalga maintenance, and Dr. Sérgio Marques (Sidul Company, Alhandra, Portugal) for the kind supply of the sugarcane molasses.
Funding
Carla Dias PhD scholarship is sponsored by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal (SFRH/BD/117355/2016). Beatriz P. Nobre thanks FCT for financial support of Centro de Química Estrutural through projects UIDB/00100/2020 and UIDP/00100/2020; and Institute of Molecular Sciences - Associate Laboratory through project LA/P/0056/2020. Beatriz P. Nobre thanks Instituto Superior Técnico and FCT for the Scientific Employment contract under Decree-Law no. 57/2016, of August 29.
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Dias, C., Nobre, B., Santos, J.A.L. et al. Lipid and Carotenoid Production by a Rhodosporidium toruloides and Tetradesmus obliquus Mixed Culture Using Primary Brewery Wastewater Supplemented with Sugarcane Molasses and Urea. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 194, 5556–5579 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-022-04034-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-022-04034-z