Biotechnology Bulletin ›› 2017, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (8): 146-151.doi: 10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2017-0446

• Research Report • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Acid Domestication and UV Induction Increase Microalgae Tolerance to Acid Stress

SHI Fei-fei, CHEN Tong, CHENG Wei-lan, SONG Cheng-Fei, JI Chun-li, LI Run-zhi   

  1. Institute of Molecular Agriculture & Bioenergy,Shanxi Agricultural University,Taigu 030801
  • Received:2017-05-30 Online:2017-08-01 Published:2017-08-01

Abstract: Utilization of microalgae for direct fixation of carbon from coal-based flue gas may reduce CO2 emissions,and also produce bio-based products with multiple values. However,CO2,NOx and SO2 at high concentration in the flue gas always cause excessive acidification of culture medium,leading to severe inhibition of microalgae growth. The present study was conducted to establish a simple and effective method of microalgae domestication for enhancing the microalgae resistance against acid stress and increasing their initial growth rate when inoculated in low-pH medium. The initial growth rate of the acid-domesticated and the UV-treated Scenedesmus reached 0.253 g/(d·L),which was significantly higher than that(0.132 g/(d·L))by only acid domestication at pH4.5 and that(0.092 g/(d·L))of 5-min induction at low-dose of UV radiation in low-pH environment. The more remarkable effects were achieved by combining such acid domestication and UV induction. The domesticated seed algae grew normally in the acidic environment of pH3,but the non-domesticated microalgae growth stopped. The initial growth rate of the domesticated seed algae was 6.6 times higher than that of the non-domesticated microalgae in low-pH environment. The above results revealed that acid domestication and UV induction significantly improved Scenedesmus tolerance against low-pH environment.

Key words: Scenedesmus, flue gas, acid domestication, biological carbon reduction