A novel characteristic of a phytoplankton as a potential source of straight-chain alkanes

Abstract Biosynthesis of hydrocarbons is a promising approach for the production of alternative sources of energy because of the emerging need to reduce global consumption of fossil fuels. However, the suitability of biogenic hydrocarbons as fuels is limited because their range of the number of carb...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific Reports
Main Authors: Harada, Naomi, Hirose, Yuu, Chihong, Song, Kurita, Hirofumi, Sato, Miyako, Onodera, Jonaotaro, Murata, Kazuyoshi, Itoh, Fumihiro
Other Authors: Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Arctic Challange for Sustainability Project, Japan, Arctic Challange for Sustainability Project II, Japan, Cooperative Study Program of the National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Japan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2021
Subjects:
Multidisciplinary
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Pacific
Rotunda
Phytoplankton
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93204-w
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-93204-w.pdf
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-93204-w
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Summary:Abstract Biosynthesis of hydrocarbons is a promising approach for the production of alternative sources of energy because of the emerging need to reduce global consumption of fossil fuels. However, the suitability of biogenic hydrocarbons as fuels is limited because their range of the number of carbon atoms is small, and/or they contain unsaturated carbon bonds. Here, we report that a marine phytoplankton, Dicrateria rotunda, collected from the western Arctic Ocean, can synthesize a series of saturated hydrocarbons ( n -alkanes) from C 10 H 22 to C 38 H 78 , which are categorized as petrol (C 10 –C 15 ), diesel oils (C 16 –C 20 ), and fuel oils (C 21 –C 38 ). The observation that these n -alkanes were also produced by ten other cultivated strains of Dicrateria collected from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans suggests that this capability is a common characteristic of Dicrateria . We also identified that the total contents of the n -alkanes in the Arctic D. rotunda strain increased under dark and nitrogen-deficient conditions. The unique characteristic of D. rotunda could contribute to the development of a new approach for the biosynthesis of n -alkanes.

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