Exploring the Relationships between Gene Regulation and Microbial Ecology for the Sustainable Production of Microalgae-base Biofuels

广泛采用替代性液体生物燃料有可能缓解二氧化碳引起的气候变化，促进地方和国家经济，并增强国家安全。使用微藻衍生的脂质作为生物燃料原料，与更发达的液体生物燃料替代品（包括乙醇和植物油）相比，在生产率、土地利用和二氧化碳封存方面具有文献记载的优势。该技术的有效应用需要将核心生物过程工程概念，包括基因调控和微生物生态学，纳入基于微藻的生物燃料反应器设计中。本研究的目标是将基因调控与微藻功能联系起来，以设计和生产强大的混合财团微藻反应器，最大限度地提高体积脂质含量。具体目标包括：(i)对参与微藻产脂的基因进行测序并构建基因表达微阵列；（ii）确定CO2浓度、pH和其他环境条件对基因调控和微藻合成脂的能力的影响；（iii）研究在使用未消毒饲料溶液的反应器中选择产脂微藻染色剂的工艺条件。（iv）将实验工作与利用微藻生产生物燃料的环境和经济影响评估结合起来。知识优势：微藻燃料生产的潜在可持续性，加上如何设计和运行高效，强大的二氧化碳吸收和脂质合成系统的有限知识，为研究微藻遗传学和微生物生态学提供了强有力的理论基础。本研究的主要成果是指导微藻生物燃料反应器的设计、稳定运行和可持续性的基础和应用信息。除了这些有形的成果之外，拟议的工作旨在为这个发展中的行业做出根本性的贡献。这些包括生产基因序列信息和生物信息学工具，以便进一步进行基因表达或基因工程研究，为了解藻类种群在现实的微藻生物燃料反应器条件下如何进化提供基础，并通过将经济问题纳入微藻生物燃料技术开发来确保该过程的可持续性。更广泛的影响：该项目通过研究生和本科生参与研究来促进教学和培训。来自不同学科的学生将参与一项为期多年的项目，设计、操作和测试两个连续运行的非无菌微藻反应器上的各种研究假设。除了为研究部门提供长期信息外，该项目还将涵盖六个不同的课程，并有望为学生提供参与替代生物燃料开发的全校机会，无论学生的学习课程如何。

CBET-0854322JordanWidespread adoption of alternative liquid biofuels has the potential to mitigate CO2-caused climate change, boost local and national economies, and increase national security. Using microalgae-derived lipids as biofuel feed-stocks has documented advantages in production rate, land use, and CO2 sequestration over the more developed liquid biofuel alternatives, including ethanol and plant oils. The efficient application of this technology requires the incorporation of core bioprocess engineering concepts, including gene regulation and microbial ecology, into microalgae-based biofuel reactor design. The goal of this proposed research is to link gene regulation with microalgae function to design and produce robust mixed consortia microalgae reactors that maximize volumetric lipid content. Specific objectives include the following: (i) sequence genes involved in microalgae lipid production and build gene expression microarrays, (ii) determine the effects of CO2 concentration, pH, and other environmental conditions on the gene regulation and ability of microalgae to synthesize lipids, (iii) investigate process conditions that select for lipid producing microalgae stains in reactors using unsterile feed solutions, and (iv) integrate the experimental work with an evaluation of the environmental and economic impacts of producing biofuels from microalgae.Intellectual Merit: The potential sustainability of microalgae fuel production, coupled with the limited knowledge of how to design and operate efficient, robust CO2 uptake and lipid synthesis systems, provide a strong rationale for investigating microalgae genetics and microbial ecology. The major outcome of this research is fundamental and applied information that directs the design, stable operation, and sustainability of microalgae-based biofuel reactors. Beyond these tangible outcomes, the proposed work is designed to make fundamental contributions toward this developing industry. These include producing gene sequence information and bioinformatics tools to enable further gene expression or genetic engineering research, providing a basis to understand how algal populations evolve under realistic microalgae biofuel reactor conditions, and ensuring the sustainability of the process by incorporating economic issues into microalgae biofuel technology development.Broader Impacts: The project promotes teaching and training through involvement of graduate and undergraduate students in research. Students from a broad cross section of disciplines will become involved in a multi-year project to design, operate, and test a variety of research hypotheses on two continuously operated, unsterile microalgae reactors. In addition to providing long term information to inform the research section of this proposed work, the project will span six different courses and is expected to produce a campus-wide opportunity for student involvement in alternative biofuel development, regardless of the student's course of study.