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Author: search.filters.author.Bux, FaizalSubject: search.filters.subject.Lipid

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    Physico-chemical and biotic factors influencing microalgal seed culture propagation for inoculation of a large scale raceway pond
    (African Journals Online, 2014) Mutanda, Taurai; Ranjith Kumar, R.; Bux, Faizal
    The growth of Chlorella vulgaris in open pond aquatic conditions poses serious challenges due to the interplay of both physico-chemical and biotic factors. We report here the monitoring of physico-chemical and biotic parameters affecting the propagation of C. vulgaris seed culture for inoculation of a large scale raceway pond (300 000 L capacity) in South Africa. The C. vulgarisstrain used for this purpose was isolated from a wastewater maturation pond and characterized for its potential for biomass and lipid production. The isolate was grown aseptically in 4 × 25 L aspirator bottles in BG-11 medium under ambient laboratory conditions and the culture was supplied with filtered air and exposed to 200 µmol photons per m2 per second using Gro-Lux agricultural fluorescent lights. The culture was transferred to a 500 L capacity portable pool under open conditions. This pond was used to further inoculate 3 more portable ponds. Physico-chemical and biotic growth parameters were monitored on a daily basis in the three ponds. The over reliance on fossil fuels will have a major impact on power supply in the near future if renewable sources of energy are not developed at a fast pace. The developed inoculum was subsequently used to inoculate an open raceway pond for large scale biomass production for biodiesel production.
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    Trends and novel strategies for enhancing lipid accumulation and quality in microalgae
    (Elsevier, 2016) Singh, Poonam; Kumari, Sheena K.; Guldhe, Abhishek; Rawat, Ismail; Misra, Rohit; Bux, Faizal
    In order to realize the potential of microalgal biodiesel there is a need for substantial impetus involving interventions to radically improve lipid yields upstream. Nutrient stress and alteration to cultivation conditions are commonly used lipid enhancement strategies in microalgae. The main bottleneck of applying conventional strategies is their scalability as some of these strategies incur additional cost and energy. Novel lipid enhancement strategies have emerged to research forefront to overcome these challenges. In this review, the latest trends in microalgal lipid enhancement strategies, possible solutions and future directions are critically discussed. Advanced strategies such as combined nutrient and culti-vation condition stress, microalgae–bacteria interactions, use of phytohormones EDTA and chemical additives, improving light conditions using LED, dyes and paints, and gene expression analysis are described. Molecular approaches such as metabolic and genetic engineering are emerging as the potential lipid enhancing strategies. Recent advancements in gene expression studies, genetic and metabolic engineering have shown promising results in enhancing lipid productivity in microalgae; however environmental risk and long term viability are still major challenges.