Making algae cultivation more efficient with bacteria
Making algae cultivation more efficient with bacteria
Algae and bacteria are living in symbiosis. This symbiosis is probably so close that the presence or absence of specific bacteria is directly affecting growth and stability of algae in commercial algae ponds. Scientists of Plant Research International are investigating the role of this symbiosis hoping to find ways for improvement of the cultivation.
Algae cultivation has been increasing in recent years, in the Netherlands as well as worldwide. Algae are especially interesting because they contain oils that can be used to produce biodiesel fuel. But algae can also serve as raw material for food or feed, or even as raw material for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
Role of bacteria
Problem is that cultivation is still facing difficulties. Good production requires the algae to be floating in the water but large masses of algae are sometimes sticking to the walls of the basin for often unaccountable reasons. And a further yield increase should be possible as well.
The growth of algae is expected to be closely correlated with the presence or –conversely – the absence of certain bacteria. Bacteria are even found in algae preparations that are kept in collections. Such collections would normally only contain pure species. It is argued that the almost inextricable bond between algae and bacteria indicates that the bacteria would be stimulating the algae. This means that the disappearance of such bacteria may disrupt the balance in an algae cultivation pond.
Production system
Our scientists are now investigating the role of bacteria in algae ponds, what happens when bacteria are added or removed. This is how they hope to develop indicators that help algae growers in setting up a stable and high-yielding production system.