Enhanced microalgal growth and metabolites through co-cultivation with Escherichia coli in algal organic matter solution

Abstract

Studies of how symbiotic bacteria interact with microalgae have been an area of interest for some time. However, there is still a knowledge gap on the role of algal organic matters in algal growth promotion and adaptive mechanisms of the co-cultures in medium containing high abundancy of dissolved algal organic matters. It remains unclear if high extra- and intra-cellular organic substances concentration influences algal development or subsequent algal organic matter productivity in the presence of bacteria. Therefore, this study aims to co-cultivate Escherichia coli NEB 5-alpha with broad range of marine and freshwater microalgae in fresh medium (T), soluble EPS (sEPS) and internal organic matter solution (IOM). Among screened species, only the growth of Cylindrotheca fusiformis and Chlorella vulgaris was promoted by E. coli at 1.15×106±2.08×104 cells mL−1 and 7.79×106±1.27×105 cells mL−1after 96 h. Xenic algal growth was further enhanced about 10 % more utilizing sEPS and IOM. However, the net EPS accumulation of the cells cultivated in sEPS and IOM was comparatively lower than that of the cells in T medium due to metabolite consumption. Elevation in the transparent exopolymer particles, total chlorophyll, total carbohydrate, total protein and lipid productivity up to 3.54-fold by cultivating the co-cultures in sEPS and IOM indicated an alteration of the microalgae's physiology. This is a new paradigm on how algal extracts promote xenic algal growth and metabolite production which pave a way for cost-effective biotechnological applications by reusing the algae medium with abundant organic matters.