Consumption of plants is essential for proper nutrition in humans, and has recently been discovered to boost cell growth and lipid productivity of a freshwater microalgal strain. Algae strains that can use plant substrates, Comparison of A. protothecoides growth with and without augmentation with raw switchgrass (0.2 percent w/v). Source: Los Alamos National Laboratorysuch as switchgrass and corn stover to grow faster and with more lipids suggests that waste plant material can be used to increase the productivity of algae during cultivation for biofuels or bioproducts.

Researchers demonstrated that Auxenochlorella protothecoides is capable of directly degrading and utilizing non-food plant substrates. The genetic and molecular mechanisms behind this degradation, and the potential glycosyl hydrolases that may be involved in plant deconstruction, were investigated. The research identifies potential gene targets for future genetic engineering of plant substrate degradation and calls attention to the potential benefits of growing algae with plant substrate at larger scales to generate greater algae biomass and lipid production.

Scientists from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Georgia contributed to this study, which is published in the journal Algal Research.