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Biologists at Bielefeld University discover important molecular mechanism

Researchers at Bielefeld University together with colleagues from Italy and Australia identified a molecular mechanism that microalgae use to protect themselves from damaging environmental stress. According to the researchers, the results of their analysis could be used to speed up the cultivation of algae for the production of valuable products. An advance version of the study is now published online in the internationally renowned journal "Plant Cell".

Professor Dr. Olaf Kruse and his Research Group at Bielefeld University are studying algae that convert solar energy into high value products. Photo: Bielefeld University

The key discovery for the study came from the Algae Biotechnology & Bioenergy Research Group headed by Professor Dr. Olaf Kruse at Bielefeld University’s Faculty of Biology and the Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec). The researchers isolated a protective protein in unicellular microalgae that is only expressed under certain environmental stress conditions.. When activated, this pigment-containing protein scavenges excess solar energy. ‘In this way, the protein blocks the formation of oxygen radicals, thereby preventing any potential long-term damage to the organism,’ says Professor Kruse. Oxygen radical  can lead to damages  of the DNA  and eventually to cell death.

‘In our analysis, we are engaged in basic research. Our primary concern is to understand the essential metabolic processes in algae,’ says Kruse. ‘Nonetheless, the research findings obtained at Bielefeld University might also have a major biotechnological relevance,’ he explains. The biologist is working on large-scale cultivation of microalgae for use  as ”green cell factories” in biotechnology. Depending on their genetic apparatus, microalgae can produce not only energy such as biodiesel, biogas, or hydrogen but also other high value products for the pharmaceutical or cosmetics industries. 

A research group at Bielefeld University has shown that the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is equipped with a protein that helps it to protect itself against too much sunshine. Photo: Bielefeld University

‘Now that we have discovered this new protective mechanism in algae, we know which stress factors compel the algae to protect themselves against sunlight. If we want to grow algae outdoors, we can use this knowledge to make their conditions as stress-free as possible. This will avoid damage to algae cultures and thereby increase yields.’ If necessary, it might even be possible to use molecular biology to optimize the protective mechanism. ‘One approach would be to modify the protective protein so that the algae react more robustly than before to excess sunlight.’

When carrying out this study on microalgae, Olaf Kruse’s Research Group cooperated with four international research institutes: Verona University (Italy), the Polytechnic University of Milan (Italy), the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), and the University of Queensland (Australia).

Further information is available online at:
www.uni-bielefeld.de/biologie/AlgaeBiotechnology

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Olaf Kruse, Bielefeld University
Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec)
Telephone: 0521 106-12258
Email: olaf.kruse@uni-bielefeld.de