Abstract:
Nowadays, much attention has been paid to investigate H2 production by green algae due to the ability of absorbing the unlimited solar energy as an energy source for photosynthesis. H2 production by green algae is catalyzed by an activity of iron hydrogenase. The electrons, one of substrate for H2 production, can be obtained either from a light reaction of photosynthetic pathway or from a starch degradation. However, hydrogenase of green algae is sensitive to O2 which is a main photosynthetic product. In this study, the primary screening of high H2 producing green algae under various O2 concentrations was investigated from twenty-four unicellular green algal strains. Five strains of green algae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii CC-124, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii CC-125, Chlorella sp. 2SinS4, Scenedesmus obliquus TISTR 8546 and Tetraspora sp. CU2551 showed high potential for H2 production under high O2 concentrations. Among them, S. obliquus TISTR 8546 and C. reinhardtii CC-125 showed the high H2 production and high O2-tolerant hydrogenase activity with an O2I50 of 15.93 ± 0.24 % and 15.09 ± 0.33 %, respectively. It was found that the cell age, cell density and nutrient deprivation in media played important roles in H2 production by both algal strains under atmospheric air condition. S. obliquus TISTR 8546 and C. reinhardtii CC-125 at a cell age of 36 h with an optical density at 750 nm of 0.8 showed the highest H2 production rate. Sulfur deprivation increased H2 production rate and hydrogenase activity in C. reinhardtii CC-125 whereas potassium deprivation increased H2 production rate and hydrogenase activity in S. obliquus TISTR 8546. Potassium deprivation reduced O2 concentrations in S. obliquus TISTR 8546 by decreasing a photosynthetic rate and increasing a dark respiration rate. Moreover, potassium deprivation could induce an intracellular starch degradation resulting in receiving a lot of electrons for H2 production. Under atmospheric air, S. obliquus TISTR 8546 gave the highest H2 production when incubated in potassium-deprived TAP (pH 7.2) medium containing 17.4 mM acetic acid under a continuous light with 30 μmol photon m-2 s-1 at 30 oC. The reducing agents, ascorbic acid, cysteine, sodium dithionite and oxalic acid, were found to promote H2 production in S. obliquus TISTR 8546. The maximum H2 production of 1,153.783 ± 52.651 μmolH2 mg chl-1 was found in S. obliquus TISTR 8546 in cells incubated in potassium-deprived TAP with an addition of 0.1 mM cysteine at 144 h of aerobic incubation.