Polyhydroxybutyrate production and increased macromolecule content in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cultivated with xylose and reduced nitrogen levels

Ana Paula Aguiar Cassuriaga; Luiza Moraes; Michele Greque Morais; Jorge Alberto Vieira Costa

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.04.273

Polyhydroxybutyrate production and increased macromolecule content in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cultivated with xylose and reduced nitrogen levels

Int J Biol Macromol. 2020 May 5:158:875-883. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.04.273. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ana Paula Aguiar Cassuriaga¹, Luiza Moraes¹, Michele Greque Morais², Jorge Alberto Vieira Costa³

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Food Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil.
² Laboratory of Microbiology and Biochemistry, College of Chemistry and Food Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil.
³ Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Food Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: jorgealbertovc@gmail.com.

PMID: 32387355
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.04.273

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the production of macromolecules such as polyhydroxybutyrate under pentose supplementation and reduced nitrogen levels in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Two batches of experiments were carried out: (1) reduction in the nitrogen (NH₄Cl) concentration to 6 and 4 g L^-1 and (2) supplementation of 10, 20 and 30 mg L^-1 D-xylose together with a reduction in the NH₄Cl concentration (6 and 4 g L^-1). The addition of 20 mg L^-1 D-xylose together with 6 g L^-1 NH₄Cl resulted in polyhydroxybutyrate production (206.0 mg L^-1). The reduction of 8 to 6 g L^-1 NH₄Cl did not trigger a reduction in the production of either proteins (68.3% w w^-1) or carbohydrates (23.3% w w^-1) in the cells. The current study demonstrated that nutritional modifications, which until now have been unexplored in C. reinhardtii, triggered the production of macromolecules (polymers, carbohydrates and proteins) with high biotechnological potential.

Keywords: Microalgae; Nitrogen; Polymer.