| Due to the high growth rate, high photosynthetic efficiency, and relatively high content of energy-rich carbohydrate, green microalgae have been viewed as one of the most promising non-food-crop-based feedstocks for bioethanol production. However, two main issues have to be addressed in order to commercialize microalgal bioethanol. The first one is how to achieve the cost-effective and highly productive cultivation process for microalgal carbohydrate production, and the second one is how to acquire fermentable sugars from carbohydrate-rich microalgal biomass efficiently and economically. To this end, a two-stage cultivation strategy was first evaluated to enhance microalgal carbohydrate production. In addition, a transgenic microalga producing thermophilic amylase in its chloroplast was constructed. By using the transgenic microalga, a novel process of converting microalgal carbohydrate into fermentable sugars was developed. |
