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On-line stable isotope gas exchange reveals an inducible but leaky carbon concentrating mechanism in Nannochloropsis salina

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Abstract

Carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) are common among microalgae, but their regulation and even existence in some of the most promising biofuel production strains is poorly understood. This is partly because screening for new strains does not commonly include assessment of CCM function or regulation despite its fundamental role in primary carbon metabolism. In addition, the inducible nature of many microalgal CCMs means that environmental conditions should be considered when assessing CCM function and its potential impact on biofuels. In this study, we address the effect of environmental conditions by combining novel, high frequency, on-line 13CO2 gas exchange screen with microscope-based lipid characterization to assess CCM function in Nannochloropsis salina and its interaction with lipid production. Regulation of CCM function was explored by changing the concentration of CO2 provided to continuous cultures in airlift bioreactors where cell density was kept constant across conditions by controlling the rate of media supply. Our isotopic gas exchange results were consistent with N. salina having an inducible “pump-leak” style CCM similar to that of Nannochloropsis gaditana. Though cells grew faster at high CO2 and had higher rates of net CO2 uptake, we did not observe significant differences in lipid content between conditions. Since the rate of CO2 supply was much higher for the high CO2 conditions, we calculated that growing cells bubbled with low CO2 is about 40 % more efficient for carbon capture than bubbling with high CO2. We attribute this higher efficiency to the activity of a CCM under low CO2 conditions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. Michael B. Sinclair for the use and maintenance of the hyperspectral confocal fluorescence microscope and Dr. Bryan D. Carson for the use of the flow cytometer. Majority support for this research was from the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at Sandia National Laboratories (JAT, AMC, HDTJ, JR and DTH). Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. This work was also partially supported by the National Science Foundation Award # IOS 0719118 (SLN, DTH) and the EPSCoR Program under Award # IIA-1301346 (New Mexico). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. This manuscript has been authored by Sandia Corporation under Contract No. DE-AC04-94AL85000 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes.

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Author notes

  1. Aaron M. Collins

    Present address: Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Albuquerque, NM, 87185, USA

  2. Howland D. T. Jones

    Present address: HyperImage Solutions, Albuquerque, NM, USA

  3. Samuel Lopez-Nieves

    Present address: Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    David T. Hanson, John Roesgen & Samuel Lopez-Nieves

  2. Department of Bioenergy and Defense Technologies, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Aaron M. Collins, Howland D. T. Jones & Jerilyn A. Timlin

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  1. David T. Hanson
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Hanson, D.T., Collins, A.M., Jones, H.D.T. et al. On-line stable isotope gas exchange reveals an inducible but leaky carbon concentrating mechanism in Nannochloropsis salina . Photosynth Res 121, 311–322 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-014-0001-0

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