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Lipid production by the filamentous cyanobacterium Limnothrix sp. growing in synthetic wastewater in suspended- and attached-growth photobioreactor systems

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Abstract

The main objective of this study was the production of biotechnological oil/biodiesel from a filamentous cyanobacterium Limnothrix sp. with simultaneous treatment of a model wastewater. A novel attached-growth photobioreactor was designed to facilitate the harvesting of cyanobacterial biomass and to maximize biomass and lipid production compared to suspended-growth cultivation systems. Kinetic experiments with different initial nitrate and phosphate concentrations were performed in both suspended- and attached-growth cultivation modes to define the biomass and lipid concentration as well as the capability of Limnothrix sp. to remove nutrients from the artificial wastewater. The removal of nitrate and phosphate was high in both suspended- and attached-growth systems. The results of this study also demonstrated that the proposed attached-growth photobioreactor system ensured higher biomass productivity compared to the suspended-growth cultivation system. The absence of long aliphatic chain fatty acids as well as the high amount of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids (almost 80 %) in cyanobacterial lipid make the oil produced a promising feedstock for biodiesel production.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Patras, G. Seferi 2, 30100, Agrinio, Greece

    Christina N. Economou, Nikolaos Marinakis, George Kehayias & Dimitris V. Vayenas

  2. School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Maria Moustaka-Gouni

  3. Division of Genetics, Cell & Development Biology, Department of Biology, University of Patras, 26504, Patras, Greece

    George Aggelis

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, 21589, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    George Aggelis

  5. Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas – Institute of Chemical Engineering and High Temperature Chemical Processes, Stadiou Str., Platani, 26504, Patras, Greece

    Dimitris V. Vayenas

Authors
  1. Christina N. Economou
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  2. Nikolaos Marinakis
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  3. Maria Moustaka-Gouni
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  4. George Kehayias
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  5. George Aggelis
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  6. Dimitris V. Vayenas
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Correspondence to Christina N. Economou.

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Economou, C.N., Marinakis, N., Moustaka-Gouni, M. et al. Lipid production by the filamentous cyanobacterium Limnothrix sp. growing in synthetic wastewater in suspended- and attached-growth photobioreactor systems. Ann Microbiol 65, 1941–1948 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-014-1032-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-014-1032-7

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