The photosynthetic activity of three microalgae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella AU1, Scenedesmus AU1, and six cyanobacteria, Spirulina platensis, Anabaena cylindrica, Oscillatoria AU1, Nostoc muscurum, Synechococcus AU1, Synechocystis sp. PCC6803, was investigated. Strains S. platensis, Scenedesmus AU1 sp. and Chlorella AU1 sp. showed the highest fluorescence quenching than other strains tested. Thus, these were selected for CO2 mitigation analysis in a designed tubular photobioreactor system at 0.06%, 6%, 12%, 18% and 24% CO2 concentrations. Spirulina showed maximum biomass productivity of 1.03 g L(-1) d(-1) with the highest CO2 fixation rate of 0.678 g [Formula: see text] L(-1) d(-1) at 6% CO2 concentration. The maximum protein content (66.63%) was also achieved in Spirulina sp. at 6% CO2 concentration. Thus, Spirulina could be utilized as a source of protein supplement coupled with CO2 fixation. Maximum carbohydrate proportion (51.71%) was noted with Scenedesmus AU1 sp. at 12% CO2. Scenedesmus AU1 sp. also accumulated the maximum lipid content (25.07%) at 6% CO2 concentration, which was further analysed for biodiesel production. The extracted Scenedesmus oil was mainly rich in short chain fatty acids (C-16 : 0, C-18:1, C-18:2, C-18:3) which is an ideal combination for efficient biodiesel. Thus, this is vital in helping to choose Scenedesmus as a biodiesel feedstock, coupled with CO2 fixation.
Cyanobacteria are cosmopolitan in distribution and have adapted to diverse habitats. Adaptation of cyanobacteria is one of the key factors to withstand harsh environmental conditions. We have investigated the effects of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR; 400-700 nm), ultraviolet-B (UV-B; 280-315 nm) radiation and PAR+UV-B radiations on phycobiliproteins (PBPs) of a hot-spring cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. HKAR-2. There was a continuous induction of both phycoerythrin (PE) and phycocyanin (PC) after exposure of PAR up to 300 min. However, there was an induction in the synthesis of both PE and PC up to 240 min exposure of UV-B and PAR+UV-B radiations. Further exposure showed decline in the synthesis due to rapid uncoupling, bleaching and degradation of PBPs. Similarly, emission fluorescence also showed an induction with a shift towards longer wavelengths after 240 min of UV-B and PAR+UV-B exposure. These results indicate that short duration of UV radiation may promote the synthesis of PBPs that can be utilized in various biotechnological and biomedical applications.
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