Genetic Characterization and Engineering of Algae for Biofuel
Shashi Kumar,
Group Leader,
ICGEB
Microalgae
are the clean renewable source of future energy due to their fast growth rates
and non-interference with food security. Alternative
sources of energy are explored mainly with the focus on economic feasibility
and environmental safety considering the climate change challenges associated
with the use of coal and petroleum-based fuels. Biofuels from algae to reduce the CO2 emission up to 70
percent compared to fossil fuels. Therefore, we aimed to characterise the photosynthetic marine
algae that are vigorous in lipid production and improve the algal strains using
genetic engineering tools for developing
sustainable energy source. DNA
barcode technology was developed for genetic identification of algal species
related to biofuel application using 16S rRNA and 23S rRNA markers. Higher
lipid accumulation, which is imperative to achieve economic viability of
biofuel production, was achieved by genetic engineering of an algal strain with
the heterogeneous diacylglycerol acyltransferase of rapeseed (BnDGAT2). Overexpression
of BnDGAT2 altered the fatty acids
profile in the transformed cells and significantly improves the neutral lipids
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