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Mixotrophic and photoautotrophic cultivation of 14 microalgae isolates from Saskatchewan, Canada: potential applications for wastewater remediation for biofuel production

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Abstract

Northern regions are generally viewed as unsuitable for microalgal biofuel production due to unfavorable climate and solar insolation levels. However, these conditions can potentially be mitigated by coupling microalgal cultivation to industrial processes such as wastewater treatment. In this study, we have examined the biomass and lipid productivity characteristics of 14 microalgae isolates (Chlorophyta) from the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Under both photoautotrophic and mixotrophic cultivation, a distinct linear trend was observed between biomass and lipid productivities in the 14 SK isolates. The most productive strain under cultivation in TAP media was Scenedesmus sp.-AMDD which displayed rates of biomass and fatty acid productivities of 80 and 30.7 mg L−1 day−1, respectively. The most productive strain in B3NV media was Chlamydomonas debaryana-AMLs1b which displayed rates of biomass and fatty acid productivities of 51.7 and 5.9 mg L−1 day−1, respectively. In 11 of the isolates tested, secondary municipal wastewater (MCWW) supported rates of biomass productivity between 21 and 33 mg L−1 day−1 with Scenedesmus sp.-AMDD being the most productive. Three strains, Chlamydomonas debaryana-AMB1, Chlorella sorokiniana-RBD8 and Micractinium sp.-RB1b, showed large increases in biomass productivity when cultivated mixotrophically in MCWW supplemented with glycerol. High relative oleic acid content was detected in 10 of the 14 isolates when grown mixotrophically in media supplemented with acetate. There was no detectable effect on the fatty acid profiles in cells cultivated mixotrophically in glycerol-supplemented MCWW. These data indicate that biomass and lipid productivities are boosted by mixotrophic cultivation. Exploiting this response in municipal wastewater is a promising strategy for the production of environmentally sustainable biofuels.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank staff members Dereck Avery, Shawn Taylor and Nigel Crouse of Mill Cove Wastewater Treatment Plant, Bedford, Nova Scotia, for their kind support and access to secondary effluent. We would also like to thank Shabana Bhatti for the helpful comments which improved the manuscript. This work was supported by the AAFC-NRCan-NRC’s National Bioproducts Program. The work performed in Kenneth Wilson’s laboratory was supported by the University of Saskatchewan and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. This is NRC publication no. 54076.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Marine Biosciences, National Research Council of Canada, 1411 Oxford St., Halifax, N.S., Canada, B3H 3Z1

    Kyoung C. Park, Crystal Whitney, Jesse C. McNichol, Kathryn E. Dickinson, Scott MacQuarrie, Stephen J. B. O’Leary & Patrick J. McGinn

  2. Plant Biotechnology Institute, National Research Council of Canada, Saskatoon, Canada

    Blair P. Skrupski & Jitao Zou

  3. Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

    Kenneth E. Wilson

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  1. Kyoung C. Park
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  2. Crystal Whitney
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  3. Jesse C. McNichol
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  4. Kathryn E. Dickinson
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  5. Scott MacQuarrie
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  6. Blair P. Skrupski
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  7. Jitao Zou
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  8. Kenneth E. Wilson
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  9. Stephen J. B. O’Leary
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  10. Patrick J. McGinn
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Correspondence to Patrick J. McGinn.

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Park, K.C., Whitney, C., McNichol, J.C. et al. Mixotrophic and photoautotrophic cultivation of 14 microalgae isolates from Saskatchewan, Canada: potential applications for wastewater remediation for biofuel production. J Appl Phycol 24, 339–348 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-011-9772-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-011-9772-2

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