Monitoring PHB production in Synechocystis sp. with hyperspectral images

Microalgae wastewater treatment systems have the potential for producing added-value products. More specifically, cyanobacteria are able to accumulate polyhydroxybutyrates (PHBs), which can be extracted and used for bioplastics production. Nonetheless, PHB production requires proper culture conditio...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Rodríguez Lorenzo, Franciso, Placer Lorenzo, Miguel, Herrero Castilla, Luz, Álvarez Rodríguez, Juan Antonio, Iglesias, Sandra, Gómez, Santiago, Fernández Montenegro, Juan Manuel, Rueda Hernández, Estel|||0000-0001-8681-3915, Díez Montero, Rubén|||0000-0001-8435-0195, García Serrano, Joan|||0000-0003-1258-8174, González Flo, Eva|||0000-0001-6560-9018
Format: article
Publication Date:2022
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repository:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/371394
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/371394
https://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wst.2022.194
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Cyanobacteria
Chlorosis
Hyperespectral
Image processing
PHB
Photobioreactor
Cianobacteris
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria civil::Enginyeria hidràulica, marítima i sanitària::Enginyeria sanitària
Description
Summary:Microalgae wastewater treatment systems have the potential for producing added-value products. More specifically, cyanobacteria are able to accumulate polyhydroxybutyrates (PHBs), which can be extracted and used for bioplastics production. Nonetheless, PHB production requires proper culture conditions and continue monitoring, challenging the state-of-the-art technologies. The aim of this study was to investigate the application of hyperspectral technologies to monitor cyanobacteria population growth and PHB production. We have established a ground-breaking measurement method able to discern spectral reflectance changes from light emitted to cyanobacteria in different phases. All in all, enabling to distinguish between cyanobacteria growth phase and PHB accumulation phase. Furthermore, first tests of classification algorithms used for machine learning and image recognition technologies had been applied to automatically recognize the different cyanobacteria species from a complex microbial community containing cyanobacteria and microalgae cultivated in pilot-scale photobioreactors (PBRs). We have defined three main indicators for monitoring PHB production: (i) cyanobacteria specific-strain density, (ii) differentiate between growth and PHB-accumulation and (iii) chlorosis progression. The results presented in this study represent an interesting alternative for traditional measurements in cyanobacteria PHB production and its application in pilot-scale PBRs. Although not directly determining the amount of PHB production, they would give insights on the undergoing processes.