Sustainable bioenergy and biofuels from microalgae: a systems biology perspective

Speaker: Dr Maria Huete Ortega, Smith Lab

Microalgae have great potential as a biofuel feedstock, and the conditions that stimulate lipid biosynthesis (the precursors of biofuels) have been investigated extensively in the last few decades. One of the widely used triggers for microalgal lipid production is Nitrogen limitation/starvation in the culture medium. However, the use of this trigger is associated with a reduction in cell growth which leads to lipid productivities lower than those necessary for the development of efficient industrial exploitations.

In the  BBSRC -funded India-UK project “Sustainable bioenergy and biofuels from microalgae: a systems biology perspective (SuBB)” aimed to overcome this caveat through a systems biology study. In this presentation, results from two of the research lines developed during the project will be discussed.