Spectroscopic analyses of chemical adaptation processes within microalgal biomass in response to changing environments

• Microalgae transform large quantities of inorganics into biomass.
• Microalgae interact with their growing environment and adapt their chemical composition.
• Sequestration capabilities are dependent on cells’ chemical environments.
• We develop a chemometric hard-modeling to describe these chemical adaptation dynamics.
• This methodology will enable studies of microalgal compound sequestration.

Via photosynthesis, marine phytoplankton transforms large quantities of inorganic compounds into biomass. This has considerable environmental impacts as microalgae contribute for instance to counter-balancing anthropogenic releases of the greenhouse gas CO2. On the other hand, high concentrations of nitrogen compounds in an ecosystem can lead to harmful algae blooms. In previous investigations it was found that the chemical composition of microalgal biomass is strongly dependent on the nutrient availability. Therefore, it is expected that algae’s sequestration capabilities and productivity are also determined by the cells’ chemical environments. For investigating this hypothesis, novel analytical methodologies are required which are capable of monitoring live cells exposed to chemically shifting environments followed by chemometric modeling of their chemical adaptation dynamics.FTIR-ATR experiments have been developed for acquiring spectroscopic time series of live Dunaliella parva cultures adapting to different nutrient situations. Comparing experimental data from acclimated cultures to those exposed to a chemically shifted nutrient situation reveals insights in which analyte groups participate in modifications of microalgal biomass and on what time scales. For a chemometric description of these processes, a data model has been deduced which explains the chemical adaptation dynamics explicitly rather than empirically. First results show that this approach is feasible and derives information about the chemical biomass adaptations. Future investigations will utilize these instrumental and chemometric methodologies for quantitative investigations of the relation between chemical environments and microalgal sequestration capabilities.

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