Solovchenko, A.; Plouviez, M.; Khozin-Goldberg, I. Getting Grip on Phosphorus: Potential of Microalgae as a Vehicle for Sustainable Usage of This Macronutrient. Plants2024, 13, 1834.
Solovchenko, A.; Plouviez, M.; Khozin-Goldberg, I. Getting Grip on Phosphorus: Potential of Microalgae as a Vehicle for Sustainable Usage of This Macronutrient. Plants 2024, 13, 1834.
Solovchenko, A.; Plouviez, M.; Khozin-Goldberg, I. Getting Grip on Phosphorus: Potential of Microalgae as a Vehicle for Sustainable Usage of This Macronutrient. Plants2024, 13, 1834.
Solovchenko, A.; Plouviez, M.; Khozin-Goldberg, I. Getting Grip on Phosphorus: Potential of Microalgae as a Vehicle for Sustainable Usage of This Macronutrient. Plants 2024, 13, 1834.
Abstract
Phosphorus (P) is an important and irreplaceable macronutrient. It is central to energy and information storage and exchange in living cell. P is an element with “broken geochemical cycle” since it lacks abundant volatile compounds capable of closing the P cycle. P fertilizers are critical for global food security, but the reserves of minable P are scarce and non-evenly distributed between countries of the world. Accordingly, the risks of global crisis due to limited access to P reserves is expected to be graver than those entailed by competition for fossil hydrocarbons. Paradoxically, despite the scarcity and value of P reserves, its usage is extremely inefficient: current waste rate reaches 80% giving rise to a plethora of unwanted consequences such as eutrophication leading to harmful algal blooms. Microalgal biotechnology comprise a promising solution to tackle this challenge. The proposed review briefly presents the relevant aspects of microalgal P metabolism such as cell P reserve composition and turnover, and the regulation of P uptake kinetics for maximization of P uptake efficiency with the focus on novel knowledge. Multifaceted role of polyPhosphates, the largest cell depot for P, is discussed with emphasis on the P toxicity mediated by short-chain polyPhosphates. Opportunities and hurdles of P bioremoval via P uptake from waste streams with microalgal cultures, either suspended or immobilized, is discussed along with the role of bacterial components of microalgal-bacterial consortia in these processes. Possible avenues of P-rich microalgal biomass such as biofertilizer production or extraction of valuable polyPhosphates and other bioproducts are considered. The review concludes with a comprehensive assessment of the current potential of microalgal biotechnology for ensuring the sustainable usage of phosphorus.
Biology and Life Sciences, Biology and Biotechnology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
