T. pseudonana biosilica and live cells was explored as a biosensor for detection of the explosive compound 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in aqueous solution. The diatom frustule is an intricately nanostructured, highly porous biogenic silica material derived from the shells of microscopic algae called diatoms. This material emits strong visible blue photoluminescence...
The capability of the marine red macroalga Portieria hornemannii to remove and detoxify the nitroaromatic explosive 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in a seawater environment was evaluated using an axenic microplantlet suspension culture system. Microplantlets were challenged with TNT dissolved in seawater at concentrations of 1 to 50 mg L-1 in well-mixed photobioreactors...
The purpose of this research was to investigate the optoelectronic properties of the
Ge doped biosilica, mainly focused on the photoluminescence (PL) properties of
diatom frustules of N. frustulum that contain metabolically inserted germanium
oxide produced by a two-stage photobioreactor cultivation process. In order to
explain the observed PL intensity...
The purpose of this research was to examine the ability of the cold water, green, marine, macroalga Acrosiphonia coalita to take up and metabolize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from seawater. Axenic suspension tissue cultures of the alga were contacted with seawater containing PAH in sealed experimental vessels. Uptake time courses...
This study compared the growth of Laminaria saccharina female gametophyte filamentous cell suspension cultures in a stirred-tank photobioreactor under batch and fed-batch nutrient addition modes over a 48-day cultivation period. Cultures were grown on GP2 artificial seawater medium (0.75 mM nitrate, N:P = 16:1) at pH 8.3 without iron or copper. Total...
More than 30,000 potential Superfund sites have been identified. Heavy metals are contaminants at many of these Superfund sites. The average cost of cleanup a single-typical Superfund site currently stands at $20 million, and it is expected that the cost may escalate to $50 million within the next decade. Problems...
Halogenated monoterpene production by the red macroalga Octhodes secundiramea was studied-under different levels of nutrient, bromide, vanadium and light delivery. The key products formed were identified as myrcene, betaelemene, the Z and E isomers of l0-bromomyrcene, 3-chloro-10E-bromomyrcene, Apakaocthodene A, and isomers of chloromyrcene and dibromomyrcene. The proposed pathway begins with...
As new cost-effective cultivation methods are needed for macrophytic red algae, this experiment expands upon a previously studied land-based approach. The experiment aimed to determine how the fluid dynamics of a previously researched land-based method affected the growth of the macrophytic red alga, Gracilaria Vermiculophylla. A clonal culture of G....
There is significant interest in harnessing the biosynthetic capacities of photosynthetic diatom microalgae for the production of unique bioinspired nanomaterials. Specifically, this research focuses on understanding the photoluminescent properties of diatom biosilica and β-chitin nanofiber production in diatoms. Diatoms are single-celled microalgae that possess intricately patterned biosilica shells called, frustules....