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Understanding Chlorella vulgaris acclimation strategies on textile supports can improve the operation of biofilm-based systems

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Abstract

The interest in microalgae biofilm-based systems has been increasing lately due to their high potential for biomass production. However, more studies focusing on the first stages of this bioprocess, such as support selection and inoculum properties, which may finally affect biomass productivity, are required. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the impact of support nature and inoculum properties on microalgae biofilm productivity and physiology. Results suggest that physico-chemical properties of the support (micro-texture, hydrophobicity and chemical functional groups) affect the attachment of Chlorella vulgaris. Significant differences in cell-distribution pattern and biofilm structure on polyamide-based (Terrazzo) and cotton-based fabrics were observed. Compared to Cotton, cells grown on Terrazzo showed higher biomass productivity (3.20-fold), photosynthetic capacity (1.32-fold) and carbohydrate pool (1.36-fold), which may be explained by differences in light availability due to support micro-texture. A high inoculum density resulted in a lower biofilm growth, likely due to a lower light/nutrient availability for the cells. Furthermore, when immobilized on fabrics, cells pre-acclimated to 350 μmol photons m−2 s−1 grew faster than those pre-acclimated to low light (50 μmol photons m−2 s−1), demonstrating the influence of light-history of the inoculum cells on biofilm productivity. Therefore, this work confirmed the importance of support and inoculum properties for biofilm-based systems.

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The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article [and/or] its supplementary materials.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like also to acknowledge Nathalie Ruscassier for SEM observation, Jamila El Bekri for contact angle measurement and Hélène Santigny for her technical support during the experiments.

Funding

S. F. Li was supported by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) and the authors would like to thanks for founding the LabeX LaSIPS project Greenbelt and the ANR project PhotobiofilmExplorer (ANR-20-CE43-0008) managed by the French National Research Agency (ANR).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Génie Des Procédés Et Matériaux (LGPM), CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay, 91190, Gif-Sur-Yvette, France

    Su Fang Li, Andrea Fanesi, Thierry Martin & Filipa Lopes

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  1. Su Fang Li
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  2. Andrea Fanesi
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Contributions

S. F. Li, A. Fanesi, T. Martin and F. Lopes designed the experiments, S. F. Li and A. Fanesi conducted the experiments, S. F. Li, A. Fanesi and F. Lopes analyzed the data, S. F. Li and A. Fanesi wrote the manuscript, F. Lopes revised the article. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Filipa Lopes.

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Li, S.F., Fanesi, A., Martin, T. et al. Understanding Chlorella vulgaris acclimation strategies on textile supports can improve the operation of biofilm-based systems. J Appl Phycol 35, 1061–1071 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-02963-8

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