Monday, May 2, 2011
Grand Ballroom C-D, 2nd fl (Sheraton Seattle)
Depletion of nitrogen causes Chlorella vulgaris UTEX 395 to produce large amounts of lipid that can be converted into biodiesel. The rigid cell wall of these algae make extraction of these lipids difficult, and current protocols utilize harsh solvents that limit the usefulness of the remaining biomass. The focus of this research is to develop ways to use enzymes to sufficiently degrade the cell walls of these organisms to allow easier extraction of lipids. Through this work we are developing techniques to rapidly differentiate permeable from impermeable C. vulgaris with goals of using this technique to rapidly asses the efficacy of cell wall degrading enzymes. A screen of forty commercially available hydrolytic enzymes has demonstrated that chitinases and lysozymes can inhibit growth of C. vulgaris. We have gone on to demonstrate that these two classes of enzymes, can lead to increased permeability to the fluorescent DNA stain Sytox Green. Transmission electron microscopy of lysozyme or chitinase digested C. vulgaris indicates that these enzymes degrade the outer wall.