Identification and characterization of kenyan marine microalgae strains towards biofuel production
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Date
2014-11-03
Authors
Musungu, Kathleen Khakasa
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The rising global energy demand in both developed and developing countries is heavily
straining the limited energy reservoir. The increased use of fossil fuels result in large
Green House Gases (GHS) emissions, that are usually considered the main cause of
global warming. Microalgae are projected to be the source for the third generation
biofuel. The proposed study seeks to identify, characterize microalgae from the Indian
Ocean and its environs for biofuel production. Algal strains will beisolated, identified
and evaluated for their use in biodiesel production. The methods of isolation will include;
Dilution in liquid media (Wahle, TAP and F/2Media) Density centrifugation and addition
of antibiotics. The strains will be screened for lipid component using the Ni1e red staining
method, while tatty acid profiles will be screened during the selection of suitable
candidates. The identified algae will be subjected to WaJne and F/2 Media whose
component has potential of influencing lipid production. Both conventional and
molecular characterization methods will be adopted to identify the microalgae strains.
Conventional methods used will include; microscopy accompanied by the Phytoplankton
guide. Molecular characterization will be done using 18S rDNA Sequencing of the
Polymerase chain reaction (peR) products will be done using the ABI 3750 capillary
electrophoresis machine. GeneMapper software will be used to calculate the allele sizes
of the samples. Power Marker version 4.0 software will be used for genetic analysis and
construction of a dendrogram to determine the phylogenetic relationship of the isolated
algal strains. Suitable candidate strains will be recommended for mass cultivation for
mass biodiesel production exploitation. Parametric statistics will be used to analyze the
occurrences of micro algae in various locations. Data for growth rates and lipid
productivity will be analyzed by Analysis of variance (ANOV A) with different
microalgae species as the source of variance and growth rate or lipid productivity as the
dependent variable. Scatter plots will be made to establish bivariate relations between the
variables and the outcome. Correlation coefficient values v,iill also be obtained between
the physico-chemical parameters and phytoplankton abundance and diversity