Biotech Updates

Ultrasonic Stimulation Improves Hydrocarbon Productivity of Botryococcus braunii

September 3, 2014
http://www.biofueljournal.com/article_6144_542.html

Ultrasonic stimulation was found to stimulate cell growth and metabolite production in algal cultures. Ling Xi and Shi-Kai Wang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences are developing an efficient ultrasound stimulation strategy to improve the biomass and hydrocarbon productivity of Botryococcus braunii as well as explain the possible mechanism of ultrasound stimulation.

Ultrasonic treatment was found to accelerate both biomass and hydrocarbon productivities of Botryococcus braunii algal cells in shake flasks. The most effective strategy was subjecting cells to three 5-min ultrasonic treatments at 4-day intervals with a fixed frequency of 40 kHz and power of 240 W.

The ultrasound-treated algal cells showed the highest biomass productivity of 0.043 g/L per day and the highest hydrocarbon productivity of 13.1 mg/L per day. The improved productivity was found to be due to the enhanced indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) biosynthesis and membrane permeability.