The world is on the verge of facing the consequences of an energy crisis and myriad health/nutrition issues. Rising populations in addition to an increase in global energy needs and limited land crop productivity are creating a thirst for sustainable alternatives. Potential aquatic biological resources such as algae may create an avenue for alternative green energy production in addition to their food/nutraceutical importance.
Algae are prime candidates to focus on due to their ecological significance (e.g., photosynthesis, carbon sequestration, light-harvesting, and nutrients cycling), and prospective sustainable applications in CO2 sequestration, bioremediation, nutraceutical, and biofuel production. It is imperative to understand and develop strategies and processes for biochemical manipulation in triggering the biomass with pigments/nutraceutical/biofuel precursors. The biochemical precursors could be ameliorated using synthetic ecology, omics, and synthetic biology tools in addition to physicochemical optimization techniques. The circular bio-economy of algal products relies heavily on successful, economical, and accessible bio-refinery routes for final success in the market.
Over the past few decades, a lot has changed in the science and technologies surrounding algal resources. Algae have long been considered a potential source of green energy and bioactive compounds. The research historically has focused on amelioration in the cultivation systems, production processes for increasing the biochemical productivity of algal products, integrating biorefinery (including extraction and purification of multiple products), CO2 sequestration, and bioremediation at a large scale. We are aiming to gather crystallized research views from a newly developing knowledge cluster in the proposed domain of algal biotechnology. We aim to provide momentum towards a future of sustainable algal technologies and to improve understanding of biochemical and molecular mechanisms for algal cell products.
We are excited to receive the latest work on the cellular and molecular biology of algae for biofuel and bioactive production. We are especially interested in the molecular mechanisms for building up the biofuel precursors of biohydrogen, biomethane, biodiesel, and bio-alcohol in addition to enhancing carbon concentrating mechanisms. Growing algae in different cultivation media and bioreactors for optimal productivity, algae–bacteria interactions in the growing phase, and reducing the water and ecological footprints are also important aspects.
For this Research Topic, we intend to gather recent research and critical reviews in the field of algal biotechnology especially on the integration of algal technologies for fuel and bioactive compound production. The presented work must feature a clearly phrased hypothesis that is then tested and investigated for expected predictions on underlying biological mechanisms.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
1. Advances in algal cultivation issues and strategies
2. Algae as a potential bioresource for drugs and nutraceuticals (Identification, characterization, and application of bioactive compounds like antioxidant, nutraceutical, anticancer, and other important biomolecules from algae)
3. Algal Biofuels (Challenges and novel strategies for the production of bio-hydrogen, bio-ethanol, and bio-oil from algae)
4. Synthetic ecology and biotechnological approaches for sustainable production of biofuel and bioactive compounds from algae
The world is on the verge of facing the consequences of an energy crisis and myriad health/nutrition issues. Rising populations in addition to an increase in global energy needs and limited land crop productivity are creating a thirst for sustainable alternatives. Potential aquatic biological resources such as algae may create an avenue for alternative green energy production in addition to their food/nutraceutical importance.
Algae are prime candidates to focus on due to their ecological significance (e.g., photosynthesis, carbon sequestration, light-harvesting, and nutrients cycling), and prospective sustainable applications in CO2 sequestration, bioremediation, nutraceutical, and biofuel production. It is imperative to understand and develop strategies and processes for biochemical manipulation in triggering the biomass with pigments/nutraceutical/biofuel precursors. The biochemical precursors could be ameliorated using synthetic ecology, omics, and synthetic biology tools in addition to physicochemical optimization techniques. The circular bio-economy of algal products relies heavily on successful, economical, and accessible bio-refinery routes for final success in the market.
Over the past few decades, a lot has changed in the science and technologies surrounding algal resources. Algae have long been considered a potential source of green energy and bioactive compounds. The research historically has focused on amelioration in the cultivation systems, production processes for increasing the biochemical productivity of algal products, integrating biorefinery (including extraction and purification of multiple products), CO2 sequestration, and bioremediation at a large scale. We are aiming to gather crystallized research views from a newly developing knowledge cluster in the proposed domain of algal biotechnology. We aim to provide momentum towards a future of sustainable algal technologies and to improve understanding of biochemical and molecular mechanisms for algal cell products.
We are excited to receive the latest work on the cellular and molecular biology of algae for biofuel and bioactive production. We are especially interested in the molecular mechanisms for building up the biofuel precursors of biohydrogen, biomethane, biodiesel, and bio-alcohol in addition to enhancing carbon concentrating mechanisms. Growing algae in different cultivation media and bioreactors for optimal productivity, algae–bacteria interactions in the growing phase, and reducing the water and ecological footprints are also important aspects.
For this Research Topic, we intend to gather recent research and critical reviews in the field of algal biotechnology especially on the integration of algal technologies for fuel and bioactive compound production. The presented work must feature a clearly phrased hypothesis that is then tested and investigated for expected predictions on underlying biological mechanisms.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
1. Advances in algal cultivation issues and strategies
2. Algae as a potential bioresource for drugs and nutraceuticals (Identification, characterization, and application of bioactive compounds like antioxidant, nutraceutical, anticancer, and other important biomolecules from algae)
3. Algal Biofuels (Challenges and novel strategies for the production of bio-hydrogen, bio-ethanol, and bio-oil from algae)
4. Synthetic ecology and biotechnological approaches for sustainable production of biofuel and bioactive compounds from algae
