Cyanobacterial Farming for Environment Friendly Sustainable Agriculture Practices: Innovations and Perspectives
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide details on different aspects of the cyanobacterial system that can help in developing sustainable agricultural practices and discuss their merits and demerits in terms of economic profitability.
Abstract: Sustainable supply of food and energy without posing any threat to environment is the current demand of our society in view of continuous increase in global human population and depletion of natural resources of energy. Cyanobacteria have recently emerged as potential candidates who can fulfil abovementioned needs due to their ability to efficiently harvest solar energy and convert it into biomass by simple utilization of CO2, water and nutrients. During conversion of radiant energy into chemical energy, these biological systems produce oxygen as a by-product. Cyanobacterial biomass can be used for the production of food, energy, biofertilizers, secondary metabolites of nutritional, cosmetics and medicinal importance. Therefore, cyanobacterial farming is proposed as environment friendly sustainable agricultural practice which can produce biomass of very high value. Additionally, cyanobacterial farming helps in decreasing the level of greenhouse gas, i.e., CO2, and it can be also used for removing various contaminants from wastewater and soil. However, utilization of cyanobacteria for resolving the abovementioned problems is subjected to economic viability. In this review, we provide details on different aspects of cyanobacterial system that can help in developing sustainable agricultural practices. We also describe different large-scale cultivation systems for cyanobacterial farming and discuss their merits and demerits in terms of economic profitability.
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01 Oct 2010
TL;DR: Bioremediation is the process of using bacteria and other biological enhancements under controlled conditions to control pollution caused by different components of gasoline and fuel oxygenates in the contaminated land and groundwater.
Abstract: ioremediation is a remediation technology using biological systems to cope pollution problems. “Bioremediation is an ecologically sound and state-of-the-art technique that employs contaminants”(Dr. Barware All). “Bioremediation is the process of using bacteria and other biological enhancements under controlled conditions to control pollution caused by different components of gasoline and fuel oxygenates in the contaminated land and groundwater”(David Laughlin and Randy Mueller).
182 citations
TL;DR: Advances made to translate synthetic biology tools into cyanobacterial model organisms are reviewed and experimental and in silico strategies that have been employed to increase their bioproduction potential are summarized.
Abstract: Cyanobacteria are promising microorganisms for sustainable biotechnologies, yet unlocking their potential requires radical re-engineering and application of cutting-edge synthetic biology techniques. In recent years, the available devices and strategies for modifying cyanobacteria have been increasing, including advances in the design of genetic promoters, ribosome binding sites, riboswitches, reporter proteins, modular vector systems, and markerless selection systems. Because of these new toolkits, cyanobacteria have been successfully engineered to express heterologous pathways for the production of a wide variety of valuable compounds. Cyanobacterial strains with the potential to be used in real-world applications will require the refinement of genetic circuits used to express the heterologous pathways and development of accurate models that predict how these pathways can be best integrated into the larger cellular metabolic network. Herein, we review advances that have been made to translate synthetic biology tools into cyanobacterial model organisms and summarize experimental and in silico strategies that have been employed to increase their bioproduction potential. Despite the advances in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering during the last years, it is clear that still further improvements are required if cyanobacteria are to be competitive with heterotrophic microorganisms for the bioproduction of added-value compounds.
149 citations
Cites background from "Cyanobacterial Farming for Environm..."
...Moreover, the high requirements of water and nutrients are other major challenges for economic profitability of large-scale cyanobacterial cultures (Pathak et al., 2018)....
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01 Dec 2018
TL;DR: In this paper, a green solution like use of microbes and biotechnological tools are gaining importance and need further attention in order to lessen or remediate the harmful effects of anthropogenic activities thus ensuring environmental sustainability.
Abstract: Since last century or so anthropogenic activities have intensely metamorphosed the earth’s ecosystem and resulted into major environmental changes. Widespread interference of human related activities have resulted in major problems including environmental pollution, land degradation, global warming/climate change, paucity of potable water supply and biodiversity loss. These issues have directly affected the quality and sustainability of the ecosystems. In addition, these activities have resulted in loss of habitats resulting in mass extinction of species which in itself is a matter of great concern. Studies and data clearly show that if present trends continue the conditions are expected to worsen in the coming time and human civilization itself will be in trouble. To minimize this crisis, possible green solutions like use of microbes and biotechnological tools are gaining importance and need further attention in order to lessen or remediate the harmful effects of anthropogenic activities thus ensuring environmental sustainability.
136 citations
TL;DR: Bio-fertilizer is a substance containing live microorganisms which exhibit beneficial properties toward plant growth and development as mentioned in this paper, which is a promising and non-toxic alternative to synthetic agro-chemicals, including fungal control and minimization of mycotoxins contamination.
Abstract: Biofertilizer is a substance containing live microorganisms which exhibit beneficial properties toward plant growth and development. Various mechanisms are used by microbial strains in order to enhance nutrient uptake, improve soil fertility and increase crop yields such as nitrogen fixation, potassium and phosphorus solubilization, excretion of phytohormones, production of substances suppressing phytopathogens, guarding plants from abiotic and biotic stresses and detoxification of belowground pollutants. Taking into consideration growing consumption requirements on Earth and hazards arising from the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, biofertilizers are thought to be a promising and non-toxic alternative to synthetic agro-chemicals, including fungal control and minimization of mycotoxins contamination. The implementation of microbial inoculants is considered to overcome the shortcomings associated with chemical-based farming techniques, therefore research into widespread use of biofertilizers is one of the mainstream in scientific work for the development of sustainable agriculture.
108 citations
10 Jun 2021
TL;DR: In this paper, the utility of biocontrol agents composed of microorganisms including bacteria, cyanobacteria, and microalgae, plant-based compounds, and recently applied RNAi-based technology is highlighted.
Abstract: Biopesticides are natural, biologically occurring compounds that are used to control various agricultural pests infesting plants in forests, gardens, farmlands, etc. There are different types of biopesticides that have been developed from various sources. This paper underscores the utility of biocontrol agents composed of microorganisms including bacteria, cyanobacteria, and microalgae, plant-based compounds, and recently applied RNAi-based technology. These techniques are described and suggestions are made for their application in modern agricultural practices for managing crop yield losses due to pest infestation. Biopesticides have several advantages over their chemical counterparts and are expected to occupy a large share of the market in the coming period.
81 citations
References
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TL;DR: Solar energy is by far the largest exploitable resource, providing more energy in 1 hour to the earth than all of the energy consumed by humans in an entire year, and if solar energy is to be a major primary energy source, it must be stored and dispatched on demand to the end user.
Abstract: Global energy consumption is projected to increase, even in the face of substantial declines in energy intensity, at least 2-fold by midcentury relative to the present because of population and economic growth. This demand could be met, in principle, from fossil energy resources, particularly coal. However, the cumulative nature of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere demands that holding atmospheric CO2 levels to even twice their preanthropogenic values by midcentury will require invention, development, and deployment of schemes for carbon-neutral energy production on a scale commensurate with, or larger than, the entire present-day energy supply from all sources combined. Among renewable energy resources, solar energy is by far the largest exploitable resource, providing more energy in 1 hour to the earth than all of the energy consumed by humans in an entire year. In view of the intermittency of insolation, if solar energy is to be a major primary energy source, it must be stored and dispatched on demand to the end user. An especially attractive approach is to store solar-converted energy in the form of chemical bonds, i.e., in a photosynthetic process at a year-round average efficiency significantly higher than current plants or algae, to reduce land-area requirements. Scientific challenges involved with this process include schemes to capture and convert solar energy and then store the energy in the form of chemical bonds, producing oxygen from water and a reduced fuel such as hydrogen, methane, methanol, or other hydrocarbon species.
7,076 citations
"Cyanobacterial Farming for Environm..." refers background in this paper
...Furthermore, cyanobacteria show higher photosynthetic efficiency (∼10%), as compared to land plants (∼3–4% maximum efficiency) (Lewis and Nocera, 2006; Melis, 2009)....
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TL;DR: The biotechnology of microalgae has gained considerable importance in recent decades and this group of organisms represents one of the most promising sources for new products and applications.
Abstract: The biotechnology of microalgae has gained considerable importance in recent decades. Applications range from simple biomass production for food and feed to valuable products for ecological applications. For most of these applications, the market is still developing and the biotechnological use of microalgae will extend into new areas. Considering the enormous biodiversity of microalgae and recent developments in genetic engineering, this group of organisms represents one of the most promising sources for new products and applications. With the development of sophisticated culture and screening techniques, microalgal biotechnology can already meet the high demands of both the food and pharmaceutical industries.
1,876 citations
"Cyanobacterial Farming for Environm..." refers background or methods in this paper
...The cyanobacterium Spirulina (Arthrospira) has been used by the Aztec population as food supplement for a long time (Pulz and Gross, 2004)....
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...Cyanobacteria in Nutrition and Health Sector Cyanobacteria are a well-known non-conventional source of protein, healthy lipids, minerals, antioxidants, and vitamins (Pulz and Gross, 2004; Singh et al., 2005; Gantar and Svircev, 2008; Rosenberg et al., 2008)....
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...Cyanobacteria are a well-known non-conventional source of protein, healthy lipids, minerals, antioxidants, and vitamins (Pulz and Gross, 2004; Singh et al., 2005; Gantar and Svircev, 2008; Rosenberg et al., 2008)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the fatty acid (FA) profiles of 12 common biodiesel feedstocks were summarized, and it was shown that several fuel properties, including viscosity, specific gravity, cetane number, iodine value, and low temperature performance metrics are highly correlated with the average unsaturation of the FA profiles.
Abstract: Biodiesel is a renewable transportation fuel consisting of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), generally produced by transesterification of vegetable oils and animal fats. In this review, the fatty acid (FA) profiles of 12 common biodiesel feedstocks were summarized. Considerable compositional variability exists across the range of feedstocks. For example, coconut, palm and tallow contain high amounts of saturated FA; while corn, rapeseed, safflower, soy, and sunflower are dominated by unsaturated FA. Much less information is available regarding the FA profiles of algal lipids that could serve as biodiesel feedstocks. However, some algal species contain considerably higher levels of poly-unsaturated FA than is typically found in vegetable oils. Differences in chemical and physical properties among biodiesel fuels can be explained largely by the fuels’ FA profiles. Two features that are especially influential are the size distribution and the degree of unsaturation within the FA structures. For the 12 biodiesel types reviewed here, it was shown that several fuel properties – including viscosity, specific gravity, cetane number, iodine value, and low temperature performance metrics – are highly correlated with the average unsaturation of the FAME profiles. Due to opposing effects of certain FAME structural features, it is not possible to define a single composition that is optimum with respect to all important fuel properties. However, to ensure satisfactory in-use performance with respect to low temperature operability and oxidative stability, biodiesel should contain relatively low concentrations of both long-chain saturated FAME and poly-unsaturated FAME.
1,527 citations
"Cyanobacterial Farming for Environm..." refers background in this paper
...Cyanobacteria, which can be cultivated using seawater, require residual nutrients for high areal productivity and have high protein and reasonable amount of carbohydrate as well as lipid contents per gram of their biomass (Williams and Laurens, 2010; Milledge, 2011; Hoekman et al., 2012)....
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TL;DR: A critical review on the recent advances in MFC research with emphases on MFC configurations and performances is presented.
1,496 citations
"Cyanobacterial Farming for Environm..." refers background in this paper
...Microbial biotechnology plays an important role particularly in secondarymetabolites, biofertilizers, bioenergy, bioprocessing, biopesticide production, waste treatment, and bioremediation (Du et al., 2007; Mohammadi and Sohrabi, 2012)....
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TL;DR: The main conclusions are that the biochemical composition of the biomass influences the economics, in particular, increased lipid content reduces other valuable compounds in the biomass; the “biofuel only” option is unlikely to be economically viable; and among the hardest problems in assessing the economics are the cost of the CO2 supply and uncertain nature of downstream processing.
Abstract: Following scrutiny of present biofuels, algae are seriously considered as feedstocks for next-generation biofuels production. Their high productivity and the associated high lipid yields make them attractive options. In this review, we analyse a number aspects of large-scale lipid and overall algal biomass production from a biochemical and energetic standpoint. We illustrate that the maximum conversion efficiency of total solar energy into primary photosynthetic organic products falls in the region of 10%. Biomass biochemical composition further conditions this yield: 30 and 50% of the primary product mass is lost on producing cell protein and lipid. Obtained yields are one third to one tenth of the theoretical ones. Wasted energy from captured photons is a major loss term and a major challenge in maximising mass algal production. Using irradiance data and kinetic parameters derived from reported field studies, we produce a simple model of algal biomass production and its variation with latitude and lipid content. An economic analysis of algal biomass production considers a number of scenarios and the effect of changing individual parameters. Our main conclusions are that: (i) the biochemical composition of the biomass influences the economics, in particular, increased lipid content reduces other valuable compounds in the biomass; (ii) the “biofuel only” option is unlikely to be economically viable; and (iii) among the hardest problems in assessing the economics are the cost of the CO2 supply and uncertain nature of downstream processing. We conclude by considering the pressing research and development needs.
1,128 citations
"Cyanobacterial Farming for Environm..." refers background in this paper
...Cyanobacteria, which can be cultivated using seawater, require residual nutrients for high areal productivity and have high protein and reasonable amount of carbohydrate as well as lipid contents per gram of their biomass (Williams and Laurens, 2010; Milledge, 2011; Hoekman et al., 2012)....
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