Quorum-sensing mediated signals: A promising multi-functional modulators for separately enhancing algal yield and power generation in microbial fuel cell

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2019-12, Vol.294, p.122138-122138, Article 122138
• Main Authors: Das, Swati, Das, Sovik, Ghangrekar, M.M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electron mediator; Lipid production; Microalgae; Microbial fuel cell; Quorum-sensing mechanism
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.122138

[Display omitted] •Quorum-sensing molecules improved the algal biomass productivity by 2.25 times.•Lipid content of C. sorokiniana dosed with QSMs was enhanced by 1.28 times.•Bacterial QSMs also improved the photosynthetic efficiency of Chlorella sorokiniana.•Settling efficiency of QSMs dosed algal culture was also increased by 2.5 times.•74% higher CE for MFC with QS induced lipid extracted algae as anodic substrate. Quorum-sensing molecules (QSMs) extracted from anaerobic sludge can help to enhance the overall productivity of algal culture, thus diminishing the per unit production cost of algae based-biofuel. In this investigation, QSMs extracted from anaerobic bacterial sludge of microbial fuel cell (MFC) was used to enhance the overall productivity of Chlorella sorokiniana cultivated in a separate bubble column photobioreactor. With the dosage of QSMs, algal biomass productivity and lipid content were increased by 2.25 times and 1.28 times, respectively. Further, lipid extracted biomass of quorum-sensing induced algae (LEB-QSA) was applied in anodic chamber of MFC to function as substrate and mediator, which enhanced the coulombic efficiency of this MFC by 74% as compared to the control MFC operated without LEB-QSA. Thus, this exploration demonstrated successful improvement in the macromolecular properties of algal culture dosed with QSMs and improved performance of MFC with the application of LEB-QSA as mediator and substrate.