User:ScienceClues/Algae viruses

Algae-sourced Biodiesel
Algal viruses have the potential to be used for the production of alternative energy sources to fossil fuels. More specifically, algal viruses can be used as a tool during the process of biodiesel production sourced from green microalgae and cyanobacteria. This is given that green algae and cyanobacteria contain components necessary for the creation of biofuels. In particular, both green algal cells and cyanobacteria produce cellular products known as lipids. The lipids contain triglycerides of which are directly used to make biodiesel. However, green microalgae and cyanobacteria have not been used for the standard commercial production of biodiesel due to the difficulty in extracting adequate yields of lipids from these sources.

Use of Algal Viruses in Biodiesel Production
Using algal viruses as a pretreatment on green microalgae has been found to be an effective procedural change for the lipid extraction process. Research was completed on lipid extraction from Chlorella vulgaris, a green microalgae species. During the controlled experiment, two broth solutions containing C. vulgaris and a growth media were incubated in a flask. Following this, one of the broth solutions was provided a pretreatment of Chlorella virus. This particular algal virus was used given its characterized ability to infect and replicate inside of unicellular Chlorella algal cells. The other broth solution did not receive the Chlorella virus pretreatment as this solution was representative of the standard algal growth and propagation process used to culture algae for biodiesel production. After this, both broth solutions were incubated again to allow for the Chlorella virus to interact with the targeted C. vulgaris host cells. Next, the C. vulgaris algal contents from each broth solution were processed for lipid collection. The Bligh and Dyer protocol, otherwise known as the standard process used to extract and purify lipids from algal cells, was performed to complete the procedure. After analyzing the results of the procedure, it was determined that the Chlorella virus pretreatment increased the lipid extraction efficiency from the C. vulgaris green microalgae. Distinctly, the yield of lipids from the broth that received the Chlorella virus pretreatment increased 11.58 percent in comparison to broth that did not receive the viral pretreatment. In addition, the use of algal viruses as a pretreatment for algal lipid extraction has demonstrated successful results as a forerunner for biodiesel production utilizing the standard Bligh and Dyer protocol. These results are attributed to the lytic cycle of non-resistant algal viruses. After lytic algal viruses infect their cell host, they replicate and assemble mature virions that lyse the host algal cell for release. The degradation of the cell wall of the algal host cell by the mature algal viruses inside of the cell is the key factor that makes for a more efficient lipid extraction from the algal cells.

Potential Limits to Algal Viruses in Biodiesel Production
Researchers note that an algal virus may develop a lysogenic cycle after the recurrent use of one particular algal virus. In the case of a lysogenic viral conversion, the algal virus would not perform the desired task of lysing the cell host. Instead, when a lysogenic algal virus releases its genetic material into the algal cell host, the genetic material hides inside of the algal host genome as opposed to beginning genetic replication and protein synthesis for the development of new mature virions. If this were to occur, the benefit of using a particular algal virus pretreatment for the purpose of increasing lipid extraction efficiency would no longer be observed. Thus, a different lytic algal virus would need to be chosen and used until the virus eventually converts into a lysogenic virus; the challenge would continually repeat itself following multiple propagation cycles and encounters between the virus and algal cell hosts.

Another point to note is the conditions of which current experimentation has been completed in. The Chlorella virus pretreatment of the propagated C. Vulgaris is done under ideal conditions. Further research has not been conducted to investigate whether or not algal virus pretreatment will increase the lipid extraction efficiency when the surrounding environmental conditions are not necessarily optimal.

Algal Viruses as a Means of Controlling Harmful Algal Blooms
In nature, algal viruses have been observed to play an ecological role in algal bloom demise. Given this, scientists have proposed that algal viruses have the potential to be used as biological treatments for algal bloom control. For example, a particular algal virus, known as a cyanophage, can be used to control harmful algal blooms of cyanobacteria. Lytic cyanophages are often found in the presence of Microcystis cyanobacteria. Specifically, the impact that cyanophages have on the population control of Microcystis aeruginosa has been a topic of interest given that this species of cyanobacteria is commonly responsible for harmful algal blooms. In one lab study, M. aeruginosa was collected and then treated with cyanophage that was found in the presence of M. aeruginosa in a lake. After six days, the M. aeruginosa algal biomass had decreased by 95 percent. The results of another lab study showed that cyanophages maintain their observed function of algal bloom demise in a controlled eutrophic setting. In this case, the biomass of M. aeruginosa also greatly decreased when treated with cyanophages. A negative correlation between M. aeruginosa and cyanophage has also been recorded in a natural setting. In the freshwater body, Lake Mikata, researchers analyzed samples of M. aeruginosa algal growth and found that the biomass of M. aeruginosa decreased in relation to an increase in cyanophage population density.