Analysis of the effects of alterations on the availability of nitrogen and iron in the biomass formation by the microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhradtii

• Grant number: 18/14884-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2018
• End date: October 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Flavia Vischi Winck
• Grantee: Flora Fernandes de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 16/06601-4 - Integrative systems approach for the study of gene expression regulatory networks related to biomass production in microalgae, AP.BIOEN.JP

Abstract

The study and application of microalgae in bioprocesses is still incipient, and the development and promotion of its usage on biotechnological applications requires significant advances on the knowledge of microalgae biology (Winck et al., 2016). The environmental condition known to affect cells fisiology towards the increase of the synthesis of neutral lipids, the triacylglycerols (TAGs), is the deprivation of nitrogen (N) (Schmollinger, et al., 2014). Furthermore, it is known that the deprivation of N induces the quiescence phase on microalgae cells, which implies the reprogrammation of cellular metabolism as for the organism to survive under unfavorable nutritional conditions (Liu and Benning, 2013). The restriction of cellular growth caused by nitrogen deprivation makes it impossible or reduces the benefits of using microalgae in processes of biomass production on industrial scale. In order to better comprehend the responses of nitrogen deprivation we propose to analyse the effects of nitrogen and iron deprivation on responses of biomass production and proteome profile of microalgae cells Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. By doing so we will be able to identify biological pathways that might be involved with the increase of biomass production in microalgae.