Bio‐engineering of microalgae: Challenges and future prospects toward industrial and environmental applications

Abstract

Microalgae are complex metabolic machineries whose potential has been continuously tapped for wide range of applications. Their suboptimal biomass yield and bioactives production remain the mainstay for their commercialization. To surpass the limitations, genetic engineering and its decisive role in strain improvement have led to the enhancement of quality and yield of products. Meanwhile, the sporadic use of genetic engineering tools specifically toward microalgal strains has limited their applicability. In this context, this article was mainly prepared to highlight the characteristics of microalgae and the introduction of omics approach for the improvement of strain for biorefinery processes. Furthermore, genome editing and gene-interfering tools to augment algal research using reference strains have been described. The progress made by genetic engineering in editing a gene using CRISPR-Cas9 and metabolic engineering of microalgae for biofuel production and CO 2 sequestration have been critically reviewed. As a futuristic alternative, the transgenic microalgae would compete with the existing resources reducing the dependency on fossil fuel in terms of cost, energy production, and efficacy.

Introductory Chapter: Microalgal Biotechnology - The Gold-Green in Modern Sustainable World

“…To rectify this gap, it was necessary to understand basic aspects involving the biological fundamentals of microorganisms and extend the research to optimization of the production stages. Forthwith, the new research efforts return for advances in genetic engineering, mapping from to complex evaluation of the upstream and downstream stages until the ascertainment of new methods of biomass harvesting and extraction, gave the path to new erudition [6].…”

Biomass Fatty Acid Profile and Fuel Property Prediction of Bagasse Waste Grown Nannochloropsis oculata

“…Increasing the oil-yielding capacity of microalgae is one of the keys to reducing the production cost of microalgae biodiesel. There has been progress in increasing the lipid biosynthesis capability of microalgae through high biomass cultivation, metabolic engineering, and genetic engineering [12][13][14]. Unfortunately, some recent lifecycle assessment studies on microalgae biofuels have shown that the energy requirement for microalgal biodiesel is fairly high during the cultivation and refinery stages.…”