Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is an issue receiving significant attention and highlights the urgent need for new classes of antibiotics. This has led to exploration for natural compounds from...

With fossil fuel sources in limited supply, microalgae show tremendous promise as a carbon neutral source of biofuel. Current microalgae biofuel strategies typically rely on growing high-lipid producing laboratory strains of microalgae in open raceways or closed system photobioreactors. Unfortunately, these microalgae species are found to be sensitive to environmental stresses or competition by regional strains. Contamination by invasive species can diminish productivity of commercial algal processes. A potential improvement to current strategies is to identify high-lipid producing microalgae, which thrive in selected culture conditions that reduce the risk of contamination, such as low pH. Here we report the identification of a novel high-lipid producing microalgae which can tolerate low pH growth conditions. Lig 290 is a Scenedesmus spp. isolated from a low pH waterbody (pH = 4.5) in proximity to an abandoned lignite mine in Northern Ontario, Canada. Compared to a laboratory strain of Scendesmus dimorphus, Lig 290 demonstrated robust growth rates, a strong growth profile, and high lipid production. As a consequence, Lig 290 may have potential application as a robust microalgal species for use in biofuel production.

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics necessitates the search for new sources of microorganisms able to produce these needed molecules, which are typically secondary metabolites produced as a protect...

Photosynthetic green microalgae are eukaryotic microorganisms that can mitigate anthropogenic carbon dioxide and generate lipids as a feedstock for production of biodiesel. Biodiesel production may not, however, compete economically with fossil fuel sourced diesel, but obtaining additional value from the biomass left after lipid extraction has the potential to help make the overall process more cost-effective. This review focuses on these additional value-added options that obtain and utilize either whole lipid-extracted biomass (LEB), which typically constitutes 60%–70% of total cell mass, or specific non-biodiesel lipid components such as polyunsaturated fatty acids, carbohydrates, and proteins.