Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Growth and biochemical composition of filamentous microalgae Tribonema sp. as potential biofuel feedstock

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Filamentous oleaginous microalgae Tribonema minus have advantages in relatively easy harvesting and grazers resistance in mass cultivation due to its filaments in previous study. To evaluate whether the genus Tribonema is a valuable candidate for use in biofuel production, the morphology, growth, biochemical composition and fatty acid profile of six filamentous microalgae strains Tribonema sp. were investigated. All the strains are unbranched filament in single row of elongated cylinder, attaining 0.5–3 mm in length. The growth rates of tested strains were 0.35–0.42 g L−1 d−1. Generally, for all strains, decrease in protein content was followed by a slight increase in lipid and significant increase in carbohydrate in early phase, afterwards, lipid increased constantly inversely to decrease in carbohydrate content. After 15-day cultivation, total lipid contents of tested strains ranged from 38–61 %, of which TAG were the majority and palmitic acid (C16:0) and palmitoleic acid (C16:1) were the dominant components. The study confirmed that the genus Tribonema is the potential for biodiesel and bioethanol production upon culture time.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Balat M (2008) Progress in biogas production processes. Energy Educ Sci Tech 22:15–36

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Chisti Y (2007) Biodiesel from microalgae. Biotechnol Adv 25:294–306

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Borowitzka MA (1999) Commercial production of microalgae: ponds, tanks, tubes and fermenters. J Biotechnol 70:313–321

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Stephens E, Ross IL, Mussgnug JH, Wagner LD, Borowitzka MA, Posten C, Kruse O, Hankamer B (2010) Future prospects of microalgae biofuel production systems. Trends Plant Sci 15:554–564

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Wijffels RH, Barbosa MJ (2010) An Outlook on microalgae biofuels. Science 329:796–799

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. John GD, Stephen PS, Michele SS (2012) Overcoming biological constraints to enable the exploitation of microalgae for biofuels. Bioresour Technol 109:245–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Pan YY, Wang ST, Chuang LT, Chang YW, Chen CNN (2011) Isolation of thermo-tolerant and high lipid content green microalgae: oil accumulation is predominantly controlled by photosystem efficiency during stress treatments in Desmodesmus. Bioresour Technol 102:10510–10517

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Sydney EB, da Silva TE, Tokarski A, Novak AC, de Carvalho JC, Woiciecohwski AL, Larroche C, Soccol CR (2011) Screening of microalgae with potential for biodiesel production and nutrient removal from treated domestic sewage. Appl Energy 88:3291–3294

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Brennan L, Owende P (2010) Biofuels from microalgae-a review of technologies for production, processing, and extractions of biofuels and co-products. Renew Sust Energ Rev 14:557–577

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Grima EM, Belarbi EH, Fernandez FGA, Medina AR, Chisti Y (2003) Recovery of microalgae biomass and metabolites: process options and economics. Biotechnol Adv 20:491–515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Christenson L, Sims R (2011) Production and harvesting of microalgae for wastewater treatment, biofuels, and bioproducts. Biotechnol Adv 29:686–702

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kim SG, Choi A, Ahn CY, Park CS, Park YH, Oh HM (2005) Harvesting of Spirulina platensis by cellular flotation and growth stage determination. Lett Appl Microbiol 40:190–194

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Wang H, Zhang W, Chen L, Wang JF, Liu TZ (2013) The contamination and control of biological pollutants in mass cultivation of microalgae. Bioresour Technol 128:745–750

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Wang H, Gao LL, Chen L, Guo FJ, Liu TZ (2013) Integration process of biodiesel production from filamentous oleaginous microalgae Tribonema minus. Bioresour Technol 142:39–44

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Machova K, Elster J, Adamec L (2008) Xanthophyceaen assemblages during winter-spring flood: autecology and ecophysiology of Tribonema fonticolum and T. monochloron. Hydrobiologia 600:155–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. McCleary BV, Gibson TS, Mugford DC (1997) Measurement of total starch in cereal products by amyloglucosidase-alpha-amylase method: collaborative study. J AOAC Int 80:571–579

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Bligh EG, Dyer WJ (1959) A rapid method of total lipid extraction and purification. Can J Biochem Physiol 37:911–917

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Fedosov SN, Brask J, Xu XB (2011) Analysis of biodiesel conversion using thin layer chromatography and nonlinear calibration curves. J Chromatogr A 1218:2785–2792

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Sánchez Á, Maceiras R, Cancela Á, Pérez A (2013) Culture aspects of Isochrysis galbana for biodiesel production. Appl Energy 101:192–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Ivan K, Kiryakov KNV, Dragieva KD (2011) Species composition and distribution of genus Tribonema (Xanthophyceae) in Bulgaria. Phytologia Balcanica 17:273–277

    Google Scholar 

  21. Hempel N, Petrick I, Behrendt F (2012) Biomass productivity and productivity of fatty acids and amino acids of microalgae strains as key characteristics of suitability for biodiesel production. J Appl Phycol 24:1407–1418

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Doan TTY, Sivaloganathan B, Obbard JP (2011) Screening of marine microalgae for biodiesel feedstock. Biomass Bioenergy 35:2534–2544

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Klok AJ, Martens DE, Wijffels RH, Lamers PP (2013) Simultaneous growth and neutral lipid accumulation in microalgae. Bioresour Technol 134:233–243

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Guo FJ, Wang H, Wang JF, Zhou WJ, Gao LL, Chen L, Dong QZ, Zhang W, Liu TZ (2014) Speical biochemical responses to nitrogen deprivation of filamentous oleaginous microalgae Tribonema sp. Bioresour Technol 158:19–24

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Cakmak T, Angun P, Demiray YE, Ozkan AD, Elibol Z, Tekinay T (2012) Differential effects of nitrogen and sulfur deprivation on growth and biodiesel feedstock production of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Biotechnol Bioeng 109:1947–1957

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Choi SP, Nguyen MT, Sim SJ (2010) Enzymatic pretreatment of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii biomass for ethanol production. Bioresour Technol 101:5330–5336

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Harun R, Danquah MK (2011) Influence of acid pre-treatment on microalgae biomass for bioethanol production. Process Biochem 46:304–309

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Liu J, Huang J, Sun Z, Zhong Y, Jiang Y, Chen F (2011) Differential lipid and fatty acid profiles of photoautotrophic and heterotrophic Chlorella zofingiensis: assessment of algal oils for biodiesel production. Bioresour Technol 102:106–110

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Knothe G (2005) Dependence of biodiesel fuel properties on the structure of fatty acid alkyl esters. Fuel Process Technol 86:1059–1070

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Knothe G (2008) Designer biodiesel: optimizing fatty ester composition to improve fuel properties. Energy Fuel 22:1358–1364

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Imahara H, Minami E, Saka S (2006) Thermodynamic study on cloud point of biodiesel with its fatty acid composition. Fuel 85:1666–1670

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Solar Energy Initiative Plan (KGCX2-EW-309) of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director Innovation Foundation of Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, CAS (Y37204110E) and the Science and Technology Development Planning of Shandong Province (2013GGF01008).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong, 266101, People’s Republic of China

    Hui Wang, Bei Ji, Junfeng Wang, Fajin Guo, Wenjun Zhou, Lili Gao & Tian Zhong Liu

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Bei Ji & Fajin Guo

  3. College of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong, 266590, People’s Republic of China

    Bei Ji

Authors
  1. Hui Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bei Ji
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Junfeng Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Fajin Guo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Wenjun Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Lili Gao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Tian Zhong Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tian Zhong Liu.

Additional information

W. Hui and J. Bei contributed equally to this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, H., Ji, B., Wang, J. et al. Growth and biochemical composition of filamentous microalgae Tribonema sp. as potential biofuel feedstock. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 37, 2607–2613 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-014-1238-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-014-1238-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation