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Biomass and Lipid Production in the Aerial Microalga Coccomyxa subellipsoidea KGU-D001 in the Liquid and Aerial Phases

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Abstract

Microalgal-biofilm culture has the advantages of less water requirement and higher lipid productivity. For efficient lipid production in an aerial phase condition, it is ideal to simultaneously induce microalgal biofilm growth and lipid accumulation. Biomass production and lipid accumulation in the aerial microalga Coccomyxa subellipsoidea KGU-D001 were investigated in the logarithmic growth phase. Initially, the alga was cultured in three different conditions: in liquid phase using Bold’s basal medium (BBM), and in the aerial phase in the presence or absence of BBM. In aerial phase conditions with nutrients (i.e., BBM), biomass production was prioritized over cell proliferation until approximately the 7th day of culture. In the liquid phase conditions, the ratio of total organic carbon to total nitrogen (C/N) in cells was almost constant during the culture period. However, in both aerial phase conditions, the C/N ratio increased during the culture period, more so in the absence of nutrients. The total fatty acid content also increased throughout the culture period. Then, algal cells were cultured for a 17-day culture; there would be a growth period of 10 days followed by a lipid accumulation period of 7 days. In such cultures in the presence of BBM, the biomass and lipid productivities (388 and 94.2 mg/m2/day) were both significantly higher in the aerial phase than in the liquid phase during the lipid production period. C. subellipsoidea can produce lipids even during growth if the CO2 supply is efficient and the C/N ratio is high.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Edanz (https://jp.edanz.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the Strategic Research Foundation Grant-aided Project for Private Universities from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology, Japan (S1411005) and the Research Institute for Science and Technology of Kogakuin University for a special Grant-in-Aid to earn KAKENHI by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Life Science, School of Advanced Engineering, Kogakuin University, 2665-1 Nakano-Machi, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0015, Japan

    Nobuhiro Aburai, Naritaka Kawashima, Rei Morita & Katsuhiko Fujii

  2. School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, 1432-1 Horinouchi, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392, Japan

    Hiroki Miyauchi, Katsuhiko Okada, Norihiro Sato & Shoko Fujiwara

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  1. Nobuhiro Aburai
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  2. Naritaka Kawashima
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Contributions

Nobuhiro Aburai: conceptualization, resources, writing—review and editing, visualization, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition. Naritaka Kawashima: conceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft. Rei Morita: methodology, validation, formal analysis. Hiroki Miyauchi: methodology, validation, formal analysis. Katsuhiko Okada: formal analysis, investigation, resources. Norihiro Sato: formal analysis, investigation, resources. Shoko Fujiwara: formal analysis, investigation, resources. Katsuhiko Fujii: supervision, project administration, funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Nobuhiro Aburai.

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Aburai, N., Kawashima, N., Morita, R. et al. Biomass and Lipid Production in the Aerial Microalga Coccomyxa subellipsoidea KGU-D001 in the Liquid and Aerial Phases. Bioenerg. Res. 16, 2479–2488 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-023-10569-8

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