Assessment of photosynthetic activity in dense microalgae cultures using oxygen production

Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms playing a pivotal role in primary production in aquatic ecosystems, sustaining the entry of carbon in the biosphere. Microalgae have also been recognized as sustainable source of biomass to complement crops. For this objective they are cultivated in photobioreactors or ponds at high cell density to maximize biomass productivity and lower the cost of downstream processes. Photosynthesis depends on light availability, that is often not constant over time. In nature, sunlight fluctuates over diurnal cycles and weather conditions. In high-density microalgae cultures of photobioreactors outdoors, on top of natural variations, microalgae are subjected to further complexity in light exposure. Because of the high-density cells experience self-shading effects that heavily limit light availability in most of the mass culture volume. This limitation strongly affects biomass productivity of industrial microalgae cultivation plants with important implication on economic feasibility. Understanding how photosynthesis responds to cell density is informative to assess functionality in the inhomogeneous light environment of industrial photobioreactors. In this work we exploited a high-sensitivity Clark electrode to measure microalgae photosynthesis and compare cultures with different densities, using Nannochloropsis as model organism. We observed that cell density has a substantial impact on photosynthetic activity, and demonstrated the reduction of the cells light-absorption capacity by genetic modification is a valuable strategy to increase photosynthetic functionality of dense microalgae cultures. HighlightsO_LIMicroalgae biomass is a promising alternative to crops. C_LIO_LIThe impact of cultivation at scale on photosynthesis is still under-investigated. C_LIO_LIThe Photosynthesis-Irradiance (PI) relationship is informative. C_LIO_LIHigh-sensitivity oxygen measurements for PI investigation was validated. C_LIO_LIThe effect of cell density on PI was studied in Nannochloropsis pale mutants. C_LI