Effect of light intensity and temperature on biomass productivity and content of Skeletonema costatum
Microalgae are considered as a very promising alternative for many applications in industry such as cosmetics, food, feed and biofuel production. The main advantage of microalgae is their high productivity compared to conventional crops, their ability to sustainably produce proteins, carotenoids, fatty acids and carbohydrates and they can be cultivated at non-arable land.
The ability of these microorganisms to readily adapt to growth fluctuating conditions, attributed to their metabolic flexibility, constitutes an advantage in modulating their biomass composition for commercial purposes. Thus, strategies like the manipulation of parameters such as media nutrient concentrations can be used in order to modify the nature, amount and composition of the product synthesized.
Photons can be absorbed as energy source. Light intensity influences the light use efficiency. In microalgae low irradiance may limit photosynthesis, but high irradiance may cause photo inhibition. Hence, irradiance can influence the production and composition in microalgae. As a result it may be possible to optimize growth and desirable biochemical quality by manipulating light intensity.
In this research the microalgae diatom Skeletonema costatum will be examined. The influence of light intensity and temperature on the behavior of Skeletonema and the results on the photosynthetic yield will be obtained. Biological parameters to describe this behavior will be studied using lab scale photo-bioreactors (PBRS).
Research type: literature study, experiments (HZ, Vlissingen)
Research level: BSc./ MSc. internship / final thesis
Prerequisite: good understanding of algae cultivation; biochemistry; good analytical skills; communicative; independent.
Partners: Wageningen UR, several Small and Medium (Aquaculture) Enterprises, national and international knowledge partners, Centre of Expertise Delta Technology
Researcher involved: research group aquaculture (Christos Latsos)
Period: 2nd semester 2017-2018
Status: Open