Sunday, May 3, 2009
2-08

Current Status of the Department of Energy’s Aquatic Species Program Lipid-Focused Algae Collection

Eric P. Knoshaug, Eric E. Jarvis, Yat-Chen Chou, Philip T. Pienkos, and Al Darzins. National Bioenergy Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd MS 3323, Golden, CO 80401

The Department of Energy’s Aquatic Species Program (ASP) was funded from 1978 to 1996 in an effort to develop liquid transportation fuels from microalgae. During this time an extensive algae culture collection was amassed from water samples around the United States. Out of more than 3000 strains, 51 were well characterized in terms of growth and lipid production and these are described in the Culture Collection Catalog (http://www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/old/3079.pdf) and addendum (http://www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/old/3079a.pdf). At the close of the ASP, a total of 297 strains of the original 3000, including 37 of the 51 strains listed in the Culture Collection Catalog and addendum, were transferred to the Center for Marine Microbial Ecology and Diversity (CMMED) at the University of Hawaii (UH). The complete list of strains transferred is available in the ASP Closeout Report (http://www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/fy98/24190.pdf). With the resurgence in interest in using microalgae as a feedstock for producing liquid transportation fuels, many inquiries have come up regarding the current status of this important strain collection. Currently, 23 of the 51 strains listed in the Culture Collection Catalog and addendum are still extant and 19 of these strains have been re-established at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. We present here the current status of these strains including a microscopic characterization of potential lipid vesicles using neutral lipid specific dyes.

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See more of The 31st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals (May 3-6, 2009)