High-starch algae are important in biofuel production, as a feed supplement in agriculture and as an efficient way to bind carbon dioxide.
High-starch algae are important in biofuel production, as a feed supplement in agriculture and as an efficient way to bind carbon dioxide. Researchers have now found a new method to control starch storage in algae - a finding with potential applications in areas such reducing greenhouse gases.
“Modifying a blue light-activated signalling pathway makes it possible to regulate storage. This offers a significantly higher yield than traditional methods that rely on nutrient deprivation,” says Dimitris Petroutsos, Associate Professor at Uppsala University, who led the study recently published in Nature Communications.
Light is essential for photosynthetic organisms such as plants and algae. In green algae, such as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the energy from sunlight is used to convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into carbohydrates, which can be used for growth or stored as energy in the form of starch.
Read more at Uppsala University
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