2763results about "Unicellular algae" patented technology

The present invention relates to a process for preparing a biomass, such as from a microbial fermentation, for an extraction process to separate desired chemicals, nutritional products, bioactive components, proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, from the biomass. Particularly preferred substances to extract include docosahexaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, and arachidonic acid. The present invention also includes extracting the prepared biomass. Biomasses to be treated in accordance with the methods of the invention include plant, animal, and microbial biomass, particularly a microorganism such as Crypthecodinium cohnii and a fungus such as Mortierella alpina.

The invention provides methods of manufacturing biodiesel and other oil-based compounds using glycerol and combinations of glycerol and other feedstocks as an energy source in fermentation of oil-bearing microorganisms. Methods disclosed herein include processes for manufacturing high nutrition edible oils from non-food feedstock materials such as waste products from industrial waste transesterification processes. Also included are methods of increasing oil yields by temporally separating glycerol and other feedstocks during cultivation processes. Also provided herein are oil-bearing microbes containing exogenous oil production genes and methods of cultivating such microbes on glycerol and other feedstocks.

The present invention provides methods for tagging and/or identifying microorganisms. In some preferred embodiments, the microorganisms are bacteria. In some particularly preferred embodiments, the bacteria are members of the genus Streptococcus, while in other embodiments, the bacteria are members of other genera. The present invention also provides microorganisms tagged using the methods set forth herein. In some preferred embodiments, the tagged microorganisms are bacteria. In some particularly preferred embodiments, the tagged bacteria are members of the genus Streptococcus, while in other embodiments, the tagged bacteria are members of other genera.

Certain embodiments of the invention involve methods and systems for preselecting, adapting, and preconditioning one or more species of photosynthetic organisms, such as algae, to specific environmental and/ or operating conditions to which the photosynthetic organisms will subsequently be exposed during utilization in a photobioreactor apparatus of a gas treatment system. Also disclosed are new algal strains and cultures that can be produced by practicing the preselection, adaption, and preconditioning methods.

A method for cultivating algae can include providing a body of water in a substantially enclosed system. The enclosed system can have a length of channel and a cover. The method can optionally include circulating the body of water through the enclosed system under positive pressure conditions. The positive pressure should prevent ingress of any external atmosphere or material. Further, the method can include cultivating the algae in the body of water at conditions which promote growth. Likewise, a system for cultivating algae can include a channel with a cover, water in the channel, and a pump to introduce positive pressure into the system.

A method of fractionating biomass, by permeability conditioning biomass suspended in a pH adjusted solution of at least one water-based polar solvent to form a conditioned biomass, intimately contacting the pH adjusted solution with at least one non-polar solvent, partitioning to obtain an non-polar solvent solution and a polar biomass solution, and recovering cell and cell derived products from the non-polar solvent solution and polar biomass solution. Products recovered from the above method. A method of operating a renewable and sustainable plant for growing and processing algae.

The present invention includes a palatable, stable composition comprising a biomass hydrolysate emulsion for incorporation, into, or used as, nutritional products, cosmetic products or pharmaceutical products. Preferred sources for biomass are microbial sources, plant sources and animal sources. The present invention also provides methods for making such compositions, specifically, a method for producing a product comprising a nutrient, particularly a long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid, comprising hydrolyzing a biomass comprising the nutrient and emulsifying the hydrolyzed biomass. Such compositions and methods are useful, for example, for increasing intake of nutrients such as omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids having 18 or more carbons.

A novel clostridia bacterial species (Clostridium ragsdalei, ATCC BAA-622, “P11”) is provided. P11 is capable of synthesizing, from waste gases, products which are useful as biofuel. In particular, P11 can convert CO to ethanol. Thus, this novel bacterium transforms waste gases (e.g. syngas and refinery wastes) into useful products. P11 also catalyzes the production of acetate.

Systems, devices, and methods for releasing one or more cell components from a photosynthetic organism. A bioreactor system is operable for growing photosynthetic organisms. Some of the methods include contacting the photosynthetic organism with an energy-activatable sensitizer, and activating the energy-activatable sensitizer, thereby releasing a cellular component from at least one of, for example, a membrane structure, tubule, vesicle, cisterna, organelle, cell compartment, plastid, or mitochondrion, associated with the photosynthetic organisms.

The subject invention includes methods and plants for controlling lepidopteran insects, said plants comprising a Vip3Ab insecticidal protein in combination with a Cry 1Fa insecticidal protein to delay or prevent development of resistance by the insect(s).

Certain embodiments and aspects of the present invention relate to a photobioreactor including photobioreactor units through which a liquid medium stream and a gas stream flow. The photobioreactor units are floated on a body of water such as a pond or a lake. The liquid medium comprises at least one species of phototrophic organism therein. Certain methods of using the photobioreactor system as part of fuel generation system and/or a gas-treatment process or system at least partially remove certain undesirable pollutants from a gas stream. In certain embodiments, the photobioreactor units are formed of flexible, deformable material and are configured to provide a substantially constant thickness of liquid medium. In certain embodiments, a barrier between the photobioreactor unit and the body of water upon which the unit is floated facilitates thermal communication between the liquid medium and the body of water.

A process for cultivating photosynthetic microbes comprising Closed Systems for continuous cultivation and Open Systems for batch cultivation, in which (a) the Closed System Area occupies no more than 20% of the Total Land Area of the cultivation facility; (b) batch cultures in the Open Systems are initiated with an inoculum from the Closed Systems containing a cell biomass of no less than 5% of the carrying capacity of said Open System; (c) the doubling rate of said photosynthetic microbe is no less than once every 16 hours; and (d) the residence time of the batch culture in said Open System is no more than a period of 5 days.

Novel closed system methods and apparatus for the production and utilization of algae are disclosed. A substantially pure form of a desired strain of alga is obtained and cultivated (or isolated and grown). The desired species of alga is isolated from the contaminants and other algae and placed in the controlled environment where its growth is cultivated without contaminants. At desired points in time, a portion of the cultivated alga is removed, with the remainder serving as progenitor stock for growing more of the desired alga. The removed alga is processed and placed in product form.

This invention relates to novel enzymes and novel methods for producing the same. More specifically this invention relates to a variety of fungal enzymes. Nucleic acid molecules encoding such enzymes, compositions, recombinant and genetically modified host cells, and methods of use are described. The invention also relates to a method to convert lignocellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars with enzymes that degrade the lignocellulosic material and novel combinations of enzymes, including those that provide a synergistic release of sugars from plant biomass. The invention also relates to a method to release cellular content by degradation of cell walls. The invention also relates to methods to use the novel enzymes and compositions of such enzymes in a variety of other processes, including washing of clothing, detergent processes, biorefining, deinking and biobleaching of paper and pulp, and treatment of waste streams.

The present invention provides commercially viable, large-scale methods for concentrating microalgae with an average diameter of about 20 μm or less. The methods find use in concentrating microalgae with an average diameter of about 5 μm or less, for example, Nannochloropsis.

A method is provided to produce biodiesel from algae using a two-stage, autotrophic and heterotrophic cultivations of chlorella for biodiesel production. This method includes a sequence of procedures: cultivating photoautotrophic algae, concentrating cells and then transferring them to a fermentor for heterotrophic cultivation. During the photoautotrophic cultivation stage, the culture is exposed to a light source, such as sunlight with carbon dioxide obtained from a carbon dioxide source or from air. antibacterial agents may be added to prevent contamination from undesired microorganisms. Organic carbons are added during heterotrophic cultivation stage. Fermentation conditions are optimized for maximizing lipid synthesis. High biomass is achieved to about 108 g/L with lipid content reaching about 52% of dry cell weight. After cultivation, biodiesel is made through extraction and transesterification of algae lipids.

Aspects of the invention relate to compositions and methods for using recombinant cells to sense and destroy specific pathogens.

The invention provides a system for obtaining biofuel from an algae composition comprising algae and water. The system comprises a pump for pressurizing the algae composition to a predefined pressure and a heater for heating the algae composition to a predefined temperature. Lipids in the algae are extracted and/or hydrolyzed to form fatty acids at a set of predefined temperature and pressure. The water may be in a subcritical or supercritical state at the predefined pressure and predefined temperature. The system further comprises a separator for partitioning the treated algae composition into an organic phase which includes the lipids and/or fatty acids, an aqueous phase, and a solid phase with biomass residue, and for collecting the organic phase. The organic phase can be upgraded to biofuel.

A bacterial strain of Escherichia coli is described which produces L-threonine, and is obtained by a process comprising transduction by bacteriophage P1 which bears a transposon which inactivates threonine dehydrogenase activity, and isolation of a transductant lacking threonine dehydrogenase activity.

Solutions containing microorganisms differing in characteristics from each other and living in symbiosis with each other and enzymes characterized by containing aerobic microorganisms, anaerobic microorganisms and at least one basidiomycete belonging to the family Pleurotaceae living in symbiosis, metabolites thereof and enzymes; carriers obtained by adsorbing the components of the above solutions onto finely ground carbonaceous materials; and porous materials obtained by adsorbing the components of the above solutions onto porous materials. Because of having various effects of absorbing, adsorbing and decomposing harmful matters, deodorizing, decolorizing, etc., these materials are applicable to various uses in the fields of agriculture and environment.

Various embodiments provide, for example, vectors, expression cassettes, and cells useful for transgenic expression of nucleic acid sequences. In various embodiments, vectors can contain nuclear-based sequences of unicellular photosynthetic bioprocess organisms for the production of food- and feed-stuffs, oils, biofuels, starches, raw materials, pharmaceuticals or fine chemicals.

A novel low cost separation process for separating lipid oil from an algal biomass for biofuel production is described herein. The process of the present invention comprises of two steps: (i) breaking the algae cells and (ii) separation of the lipid oils from the broken cells. The separated lipids are extracted by conventional techniques followed by conversion to a biofuel.

Hydrocarbon and hydrogen fuels and other products may be produced by a process employing a combination of fermentation and electrochemical stages. In the process, a biomass contained within a fermentation medium is fermented with an inoculum comprising a mixed culture of microorganisms derived the rumen contents of a rumen-containing animal. This inoculated medium is incubated under anaerobic conditions and for a sufficient time to produce volatile fatty acids. The resultant volatile fatty acids are then subjected to electrolysis under conditions effective to convert said volatile fatty acids to hydrocarbons and hydrogen simultaneously. The process can convert a wide range of biomass materials to a wide range of volatile fatty acid chain lengths and can convert these into a wide range of biobased fuels and biobased products.

According to the present invention new isolates of bacterial strains have been shown to possess unique properties. These bacterial strains are plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR), posses an enhanced competitive advantage at colonizing leguminous plants, and enhance the overall performance of leguminous plant growth. Further still, the present invention discloses a novel method for screening and selecting bacterial strains having the aforementioned beneficial characteristics.

Expression systems are disclosed for the direct expression of peptide products into the culture media where genetically engineered host cells are grown. High yield was achieved with novel vectors, a special selection of hosts, and/or fermentation processes which include careful control of cell growth rate, and use of an inducer during growth phase. Special vectors are provided which include control regions having multiple promoters linked operably with coding regions encoding a signal peptide upstream from a coding region encoding the peptide of interest. Multiple transcription cassettes are also used to increase yield. The production of amidated peptides using the expression systems is also disclosed.

PCT No. PCT/JP97/00578 Sec. 371 Date Aug. 11, 1998 Sec. 102(e) Date Aug. 11, 1998 PCT Filed Feb. 27, 1997 PCT Pub. No. WO97/32030 PCT Pub. Date Sep. 4, 1997A process for preparing alpha -hydroxy acids represented by the general formula (II): RCH(OH)COOH (wherein R represents a hydrogen atom, an optionally substituted C1-C6 alkyl group, an optionally substituted C2-C6 alkenyl group, an optionally substituted C1-C6 alkoxy group, an optionally substituted aryl group, an optionally substituted aryloxy group, or an optionally substituted heterocyclic group) by allowing a microorganism to act on alpha -hydroxy nitriles (I): RCH(OH)CN (wherein R is as defined above) to hydrolyze and convert the alpha -hydroxy nitrites to alpha -hydroxy acids (II), wherein the alpha -hydroxy acids (II) are produced and accumulated in an aqueous solvent by a microorganism having the concentration resistance to the alpha -hydroxy nitrites (I) and/or alpha -hydroxy acids (II) and durability preferably in the presence of a cyanide, and harvested. According to this process, the use of the microorganism having the concentration resistance to the alpha -hydroxy nitriles (I) and/or alpha -hydroxy acids (II) and durability high enough to permit the activity to persist for a long period of time enables alpha -hydroxy acids (II) to be accumulated in high concentrations and cell bodies to be repeatedly used, and hence enables alpha -hydroxy acids (II) to be efficiently prepared. The addition of a cyanide to the reaction system results in more efficient preparation of alpha -hydroxy acids (II).

A method is provided to produce biodiesel from algae using a strain of microalga chlorella protothecoids, by screening a specific strain with characteristics of high yield of biomass and high oil content, cultivating the screened strain for high-cell-density growth for up to 108 grams of dry cell weight per liter of the suspension in a bioreactor using solutions containing carbohydrates as feed, harvesting and drying the high density cultivated algal cells to extract oil from the dried algal cells, and producing the biodiesel by reaction of catalyzed transesterification using the extracted oil as feedstock.

The present invention provides a rice plant that shows enhanced growth and increased seed production, which also enables reduction of the use of chemical fertilizers.

In the present invention, a nitrogen-fixing endophytic bacterium is isolated from bacteria symbiotically inhabiting natural plants, the isolated endophytic bacterium is artificially proliferated and then artificially inoculated into rice plants, and thus, the nitrogen-fixing endophytic bacteria are allowed to infect to rice plants.

A method for isolating succinic acid producing bacteria is provided comprising increasing the biomass of an organism which lacks the ability to catabolize pyruvate, and then subjecting the biomass to glucose-rich medium in an anaerobic environment to enable pyruvate-catabolizing mutants to grow.The invention also provides for a mutant that produces high amounts of succinic acid, which has been derived from a parent which lacked the genes for pyruvate formate lyase and lactate dehydrogenase, and which belongs to the E.coli Group of Bacteria.

A method and apparatus for sequestering CO₂ using algae comprises a plurality of vertically suspended bioreactors, each bioreactor being translucent and including a flow channel formed by a plurality of baffles. A culture tank contains a suspension of water and at least one algae and includes a plurality of gas jets for introducing a CO₂-containing gas into the suspension. The culture tank is in fluid communication with an inlet in each channel for flowing the suspension through the channel in the presence of light. A pump pumps the suspension into the channel inlet.