Trzaskalski, Natasha

Microalgae are a promising source of valuable compounds relevant to biofuels, biomaterials, nutraceuticals as well as animal and human nutriment. Unfortunately, low cell density and slow growth result in reduced economic feasibility. Heterotrophic cell culturing using an organic carbon source in lieu of light has proven to be an effective alternative to photobioreactors; however, further improvement may be possible with the addition of growth promoting phytohormones. In this thesis, growth and endogenous hormone profiles in heterotrophic cultures of Euglena gracilis were evaluated using glucose and ethanol as carbon sources. Cytokinin (CK) and abscisic acid (ABA) were quantified by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS and compared to culture growth dynamics. Exogenous phytohormones treatments were also conducted to determine if they may mitigate nutrient reduction and improve growth. Phytohormones CK and ABA were purified and analyzed at seven points along the growth curve in small scale (250 mL flasks, 100 mL working volume) cultures. Among the key findings was that ethanol cultures undergoing exponential growth, primarily synthesize freebase cytokinins (FBCKs) and methylthiol-cytokinins (MeSCKs), while not producing detectable levels of ABA. In exogenous studies, dry biomass was positively influenced with the addition of exogenous ABA; however, the most notable result revealed the ability of transZ to alleviate nutrient reduction. These findings suggest a communication network in algal culture using FBCKs and MeSCKs, as well as the potential for exogenous hormone supplementation to increase growth rates and overall biomass productivity.

Author Keywords: abscisic acid, cytokinin, Euglena gracilis, heterotrophy, phytohormones