Nov 2010 - Nov 2013
Genetic modification of marine or freshwater algae to better suit industrial applications
GIAVAP adapted genetic engineering techniques to various algal strains of economic interest focusing on carotenoids and PUFA production and the over expression of peptides of commercial value. In parallel, cultivation technologies, harvesting and extraction methods for lipids, carotenoids and proteins using existing model algae strains were adapted to suitably improved strains. Furthermore, products were tested for several applications for economic evaluation of the production processes and their economic exploitation.
A4F scaled-up GMO microalgae up to 1m3 level in a compliant unit.
Microalgae species: Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chromochloris zofingiensis.
Program
FP7
Budget
7 M€
Duration
36 months
Partners
Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (Coordinatior), Israel
Rothamsted Research (RRES), UK
J.W. Goethe Universität Frankfurt (GUF), Germany
Georg-August-University, Göttingen (UGOE), Germany
University College, London (UCL), UK
Rosetta Genomics/Rosetta Green (RGen), Israel
Le Mans University (UM), France
CNRS/University Pierre et Marie Curie (CNRS), France
University of Firenze (UNIFI), Italy
Algatech (ALGATECH), Israel
Nimrod Shaham & Amos Zamir C.P.A., (SHAHAM CPA), Israel
A4F Role
A4F was involved in the pilot scale algal cultivation, including the development of an optimized pilot scale production models for PUFA and carotenoid-producing algae in different designs of optimized sensor controlled photobioreactors, which included the evaluation of mixotrophic cultivation conditions and their upscaling to pilot size.