High biofuel production of Botryococcus braunii using optimized cultivation strategies

This thesis describes how using a heterotrophy-recovery-autotrophy route (called the green cycle) for the cultivation of Botryococcus braunii results in high biofuel production. Our experiments show that the addition of citrate to a culture can increase cell numbers by up to 20 times compared with the control in the first week. A metal solution was then added to help cells synthesize chlorophyll, enabling Botryococcus braunii to regenerate the chlorophyll content in the plastids and become autotrophic. In our experiments, high cell numbers were obtained after two weeks and biofuel production was enhanced.;This thesis describes how using a heterotrophy-recovery-autotrophy route (called the green cycle) for the cultivation of Botryococcus braunii results in high biofuel production. Our experiments show that the addition of citrate to a culture can increase cell numbers by up to 20 times compared with the control in the first week. A metal solution was then added to help cells synthesize chlorophyll, enabling Botryococcus braunii to regenerate the chlorophyll content in the plastids and become autotrophic. In our experiments, high cell numbers were obtained after two weeks and biofuel production was enhanced.;By applying these techniques to the Botryococcus braunii culture, we found that cell growth could increase by up to 58 times in comparison with the control.