Metabolites With Beneficial Bioactivities And Factors Affecting Their Productivity In Microalgae And Cyanobacteria

Marilda Rigobello-Masini*, Jorge Cesar Masini

Departamento de Química Fundamental, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-000, São Paulo, SP, (BRAZIL)

PAGE NO: 01-21

ABSTRACT – DOI : https://dx.doi.org/10.47204/EBR.1.1.2021.1-21

Since microalgae are an ancient group of microorganisms, they have evolved on earth facing several enemies and the constantly changing environmental conditions. This allowed them to produce, as a response or defense, many molecules. These molecules show potential beneficial bioactivities, which can be used in several fields, such as medicine, agriculture, cosmetology, to name some of their applications. This paper summarizes the main factors that influence the yield of biomass growth and metabolite production, considering the biorefinery concept of microalgae cultivation on a sustainable circular bioeconomy, where more than one product is obtained from the industrial process. The influence of abiotic factors such of light and temperature, the regimen of cultivation – regarding to autotrophy, heterotrophy or mixotrophy – as well as the bioreactor design will be considered. The genetic manipulation, using tools from the synthetic biology approach, can improve considerably the production of new drugs, using microalgae and cyanobacteria as components of new hybrid organisms. Modelling the growth of microalgae using mathematical and computational tools, such as neural networks and kinetics of the biochemical and physical involved processes, aims to predict the yield of products, in a multidisciplinary point of view.