Immobilization of planktonic algal spores by inkjet printing

Abstract

The algal cell immobilization is a commonly used technique for treatment of waste water, production of useful metabolites and management of stock culture. However, control over the size of immobilized droplets, the population of microbes, and production rate in current techniques need to be improved. Here, we use drop-on-demand inkjet printing to immobilize spores of the alga Ecklonia cava within alginate microparticles for the first time. Microparticles with immobilized spores were generated by printing alginate-spore suspensions into a calcium chloride solution. We demonstrate that the inkjet technique can control the number of spores in an ejected droplet in the range of 0.23 to 1.87 by varying spore densities in bioink. After the printing-based spore encapsulation, we observe initial sprouting and continuous growth of thallus until 45 days of culture. Our study suggest that inkjet printing has a great potential to immobilize algae, and that the ability to control the number of encapsulated spores and their microenvironments can facilitate research into microscopic interactions of encapsulated spores.

Applications of Chitosan-Alginate-Based Nanoparticles—An Up-to-Date Review

“…In addition, the stability of this polysaccharide can be enhanced by controlling the environmental factors, launching a proper stabilizing compound, creating blends with other polymers (e.g., alginate, polylysine, poly(γ-glutamic acid), and short-chain amylose) or altering its structure with chemical/ionic agents [25,46]. [49], while alginate is a copolymer of β-D-mannuronic acid (M) and α-L-guluronic acid (G) which, in the presence of calcium ions form an egg-box structure [50]. Adapted from open-access sources.…”

“…One of the most convenient natural polymers for forming blends with chitosan is alginate (Figure 1), especially because its anionic nature complements the cationic [49], while alginate is a copolymer of β-D-mannuronic acid (M) and α-L-guluronic acid (G) which, in the presence of calcium ions form an egg-box structure [50]. Adapted from open-access sources.…”

Live-Cell Systems in Real-Time Biomonitoring of Water Pollution: Practical Considerations and Future Perspectives

“…This adds significant complexity since the detection of multiple independent bioluminescence strains needs to be monitored in real time as well as combined with fluorimetry or amperometric measurements of general photosynthetic activity to provide a global toxicity readout. Similarly, to bacteria-based biosensors, significant technical complexity is required to enable the immobilisation, encapsulation or reliable containment of cyanobacteria cells for continuous analysis [104,106,108]. As of today, no practical deployment of water biomonitoring systems has been reported with cyanobacteria-based biosensing technologies [21].…”

Current Advances in 3D Bioprinting Technology and Its Applications for Tissue Engineering

“… Crosslinking mechanisms of some instances. ( a ) alginate crosslinking with calcium ions (adapted from [ 134 ]); ( b ) synthesis gelatin methacrylamide (GelMA) and crosslinking with UV was adapted with permission from [ 65 ]. Copyright 2010 Elsevier; ( c ) chitosan crosslinking with genipin [ 135 ]; ( d ) collagen crosslinked with glutaraldehyde was adapted with permission from [ 136 ] Copyright 2018 Elsevier; ( e ) crosslinking mechanism of gelatin [ 137 ]; ( f ) PVA crosslinked with glutaraldehyde was adapted from [ 138 ].…”

“…Crosslinking mechanisms of some instances. (a) alginate crosslinking with calcium ions (adapted from[134]); (b) synthesis gelatin methacrylamide (GelMA) and crosslinking with UV was adapted with permission from[65]. Copyright 2010 Elsevier; (c) chitosan crosslinking with genipin…”