| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23550 | Journal of Biotechnology | 2013 | 8 Pages |
•Cyanobacterium (Anabaena sp.) genetically engineered for use in malaria vector control programs.•Growth in flat-plate, inclined photobioreactor under artificial illumination.•Productivity affected by interactions between PPFD, CO2 concentration and airflow rate.•Optimization of volumetric productivity by response surface methodology.•Mosquitocidal activity of the Anabaena sp. was maintained under diverse bioreactor conditions.
An Anabaena strain (PCC 7120#11) that was genetically engineered to express Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis cry genes has shown good larvicidal activity against Anopheles arabiensis, a major vector of malaria in Africa. Response surface methodology was used to evaluate the relationship between key growth factors and the volumetric productivity of PCC 7120#11 in an indoor, flat-plate photobioreactor. The interaction of input CO2 concentration and airflow rate had a statistically significant effect on the volumetric productivity of PCC 7120#11, as did the interaction of airflow rate and photosynthetic photon flux density. Model-based numerical optimization indicated that the optimal factor level combination for maximizing PCC 7120#11 volumetric productivity was a photosynthetic photon flux density of 154 μmol m−2 s−1 and air enriched with 3.18% (v/v) CO2 supplied at a flow rate of 1.02 vessel volumes per minute. At the levels evaluated in the study, none of the growth factors had a significant effect on the median lethal concentration of PCC 7120#11 against An. arabiensis larvae. This finding is important because loss of mosquitocidal activity under growth conditions that maximize volumetric productivity would impact on the feasibility of using PCC 7120#11 in malaria vector control programs. The study showed the usefulness of response surface methodology for determination of the optimal growth conditions for a cyanobacterium that is genetically engineered to have larvicidal activity against malaria vectors.
