Two-stage photo-biological production of hydrogen by marine green alga Platymonas subcordiformis

A marine green alga, Platymonas subcordiformis, was demonstrated to photobiologically evolve hydrogen (H-2) after the first stage of photosynthesis, when subjected to a two-phase incubation protocol in a second stage of H2 production: anaerobic incubation in the dark followed by the exposure to light illumination. The anaerobic incubation induced hydrogenase activity to catalyse H? evolution in the following phase of light illumination. H,) evolution strongly depended upon the duration of anaerobic incubation, deprivation of sulphur (S) from the medium and the medium pH. An optimal anaerobic incubation period of 32 h gave the maximum H2 evolution in the second phase in the absence of sulphur. Evolution of H,) was greatly enhanced by 13 times when S was deprived from the medium. This result suggests that S plays a critical role in the mediation of H-2 evolution from R subcordiformis. A 14-fold increase in H-2 production was obtained when the medium pH increased from 5 to 8; with a sharp decline at pH above eight. H-2 evolution was enhanced by 30-50% when supplementing the optimal concentrations of 25 mM acetate and 37.5 mM glucose. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of the main light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b-protein complex of green alga, Bryopsis corticulans

The main light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b -protein complex (LHC II) has been isolated directly from thylakoid membranes of shiphonous green alga, Bryopsis corticulans Setch. by using two consecutive runs of anion exchange and gel-filtration chromatography. Monomeric and trimeric subcomplexes of LHC 11 were obtained by using sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation. Pigment analysis by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography showed that chlorophyll a (Chl a), chlorophyll b (Chl b), neoxanthin, violaxanthin and siphonaxanthin were involved in LHC 11 from B. corticulans. The properties of electronic transition of monomeric LHC II showed similarities to those of trimeric LHC II. Circular dichroism spectroscopy showed that strong intramolecular interaction of excitonic dipoles between Chl a and between Chl b exist in one LHC II apoprotein, while the intermolecular interaction of these dipoles can be intensified in the trimeric structure. The monomer has high efficient energy transfer from Chl b and siphonaxanthin to Chl a similarly to that of the trimer. Our results suggest that in B. corticulans, LHC II monomer has high ordered pigment organization that play effective physiological function as the trimer, and thus it might be also a functional organization existing in thylakoid membrane of B. corticulans.

Langmuir-Blodgett film of phycobilisomes from blue-green alga Spirulina platensis

The phycobilisomes were isolated from blue-green alga Spirulina platensis, and could form monolayer film at air/water interface. The monolayer film of phycobilisomes was transferred to newly cleaved mica, and coated with gold. Scanning tunneling microscope was used to investigate the structure of the Langmuir-Blodgett film of phycobilisomes. It was shown that phycobilisomes in the monolayer arrayed in rows with core attaching on the substrate surface and rods radiating towards the air phase, this phenomenon was similar to the arrangement of phycobilisomes on cytoplasmic surface of thylakoid membrane in vivo. The possible applications of the Langmuir-Blodgett film of phycobilisomes were also discussed.

Transient expression of lacZ in bombarded unicellular green alga Haematococcus pluvialis

This paper reports for the first time the transient expression of a reporter gene, LacZ, in the unicellular green alga Haematococcus pluvialis. By employing the micro-particle bombardment method, motile cells in the exponential phase showed transient expression of lacZ. This was detected in bombarded motile cells under the rupture-disc pressures of 3103 KPa and 4137 KPa. Transient expression of LacZ gene could not be observed in non-motile cells of this alga under the same transformation condition. No LacZ background was found in either the motile cells or the non-motile cells. The study suggests a promising potential of the SV40 promoter and the lacZ reporter gene in genetic engineering of unicellular green algae.

Isolation of PSI from a siphonous marine green alga, Codium fragile

Three different forms of PS I complexes were isolated from a siphonous marine green alga, Codium fragile, by Triton X-100 sucrose gradient centrifugation. Zone III had a Chl a/b>20, and designated as PS I. core complex CC I because it created only CP I band in mild PAGE. Zone IV and V had absorption at 436 and 674 nm, 467 and 650 nm, and 540 nm, suggesting the presence of Chl a, Chl b, siphonaxanthin and siphonein, Chl a/b were 3.23 and 2.4, respectively. Both CP I and CP I a bands were observed when they were subjected to mild PAGE. Therefore, Zone IV and V were different forms of PS I complexes that consisted of CC I and different amount of light-harvesting complex LHC I. Zone III contained only 66 and 56 ku peptides in SDS-PAGE, while Zone IV and V had 4 different LHC I peptides of 25, 26, 26.2 and 27.5 ku in addition to 66, 56 ku peptides. Fluorescence emission spectra showed that efficient energy transfer were kept among pigments in isolated PS I complexes. Excitation energy absorbed by Chl b, siphonaxanthin and siphonein can be transferred to Chl a.

INVESTIGATION OF C-PHYCOCYANIN FROM BLUE-GREEN-ALGA SPIRULINA-PLATENSIS WITH SCANNING TUNNELING MICROSCOPE

C-phycocyanin (C-PC) was isolated from blue-green alga spirulina platensis. A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) has been used to investigate its three-dimensional structure. The samples were dialyzed before the STM experiment, and then deposited on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). The measurement was carried out in ambient condition at room temperature. STM images showed that C-phycocyanin was uniformly distributed on solid-state substrate HOPG. The shape of C-phycocyanin is disklike with a channel in the center. It is concluded that STM has great potential to observe the structure of biliproteins and phycobilisomes.

Evaluation of the pyrolytic and kinetic characteristics of Enteromorpha prolifera as a source of renewable bio-fuel from the Yellow Sea of China

The pyrolytic and kinetic characteristics of Enteromorpha prolifera from the Yellow Sea were evaluated at heating rates of 10, 20 and 50 degrees C min(-1), respectively. The results indicated that three stages appeared during pyrolysis; dehydration, primary devolatilization and residual decomposition. Differences in the heating rates resulted in considerable differences in the pyrolysis of E. prolifera. Specifically, the increase of heating rates resulted in shifting of the initial temperature, peak temperature and the maximum weight loss to a higher value. The average activation energy of E. prolifera was 228.1 kJ mol(-1), the pre-exponential factors ranged from 49.93 to 63.29 and the reaction orders ranged from 2.2 to 3.7. In addition, there were kinetic compensation effects between the pre-exponential factors and the activation energy. Finally, the minimum activation energy was obtained when a heating rate of 20 degrees C min(-1) was used. (C) 2009 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Expression of beta-carotene hydroxylase gene (crtR-B) from the green alga Haematococcus pluvialis in chloroplasts of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

A carotenoid gene (crtR-B) from the green alga Haematococcus pluvialis, encoding beta-carotene hydroxylase that was able to catalyze the conversion of beta-carotene to zeaxanthin and canthaxanthin to astaxanthin, was cloned into Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast expression vector p64D to yield plasmid p64DcrtR-B. The vector p64DcrtR-B was transferred to the chloroplast genome of C. reinhardtii using micro-particle bombardment. PCR and Southern blot analyses indicated that crtR-B was integrated into the chloroplast genome of the transformants. RTPCR assays showed that the H. pluvialis crt R-B gene was expressed in C. reinhardtii transformants. The transformants rapidly synthesized carotenoids in larger quantities than the wild-type upon being transferred from moderate to high-intensity white light. This research provides a foundation for further study to elucidate the possible mechanism of photo-protection by xanthophylls and other carotenoids in high light conditions or through exposure to UV radiation.

Proteasome and NF-kappa B inhibiting phaeophytins from the green alga Cladophora fascicularis

Chemical examination of the green alga Cladophora fascicularis resulted in the isolation and characterization of a new porphyrin derivative, porphyrinolactone (1), along with five known phaeophytins 2-6 and fourteen sterols and cycloartanes. The structure of 1 was determined on the basis of spectroscopic analyses and by comparison of its NMR data with those of known phaeophytins. Compounds 1-6 displayed moderate inhibition of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) induced nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) activation, while 2 and 4 displayed potential inhibitory activity toward proteasome chymotripsin-like activation. The primary structure-activity relationship was also discussed.