e-book

Algal Culturing Techniques [PART 2]

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Why are algae important? They contribute approximately 40 to 50% of the oxygen in the atmosphere, or the oxygen in every other breath we breathe. Algae are the original source of fossil carbon found in crude oil
and natural gas. Algae, for practical purposes, are the only primary producers in the oceans—an area that covers 71% of the Earth’s surface. There are no grasslands or forests beneath the waves, and microscopic
algae and seaweeds directly or indirectly support most life in the seas. Indeed, there are approximately 6.25 ¥ 1025 algal cells in the oceans at any one time. And, assuming an average diameter of 2 mm, these cells could be packed into a plank-sized volume with dimensions 7 cm thick, 30 cm wide, and long enough to extend from the earth to the moon (386,000 km)! Assuming that the cells divide once per day, the oceans produce another plank each day. Unlike the terrestrial environment, where biomass accumulates, the consumers of our
oceans eat one plank each day. Therefore, while algae may seem insignificant in terms of accumulated biomass
(no forests), they are very significant in terms of global productivity. Algae are also important economically. Seaweed sales account for approximately 22% of the 39.4 million metric tons of aquaculture products sold worldwide.

More than 30 years ago, the Phycological Society of America (PSA) sponsored the first of several volumes in the series Handbook of Phycological Methods. The first volume, Culture Methods and Growth Measurements, edited by Janet R. Stein (1973), brought together a comprehensive collection of laboratory-based techniques
for working with microalgae and macroalgae. This current volume, also sponsored by the PSA, has the same goal: To provide a comprehensive resource for all aspects of algal culturing and related research. Following the tradition of previous PSA sponsored books, the editor and authors of Algal Culturing Techniques will generously direct all royalties to the PSA Endowment Fund. The Endowment Fund is used to promote phycology by sponsoring publications, providing various awards, and fostering other algal projects.

Many new methods are detailed in this volume.Robotic automation of flow cytometers for single cell isolation means that machines will mostly replace laborious hand isolation (see Chapter 7). Current models can isolate hundreds of cells per minute, and these numbers will increase with new technology. The maintenance of algal cultures has been a bottleneck, and many scientists limit their isolation efforts because they are unable to maintain the growing numbers of cultures. Now that machines can isolate algae at high speeds, who will take care of all the new isolates? Fortunately, a second field, algal cryopreservation, has been developing rapidly during the past few years (see Chapter 12). Several cryopreservation protocols are currently being used with great success, and developing techniques hold promise for even better freezing methods in the near future. Together, these two advances mean that we will soon have many more algal cultures, both in public collections and in private research laboratories. These new cultures will help advance our basic knowledge in many areas, from genomics and physiology to biodiversity and systematics. With regard to applied research, we should expect increased discovery of natural products from algae, and those novel compounds will advance biotechnology and biomedicine.

Several new culture media have been developed in recent years, and some older media have been improved. We have learned that richly nutrified media work well for algae from non-oligotrophic regions, but for oligotrophic environments and so-called uncultivable organisms, low nutrient media are imperative. We include a wide range of media, new and old, in Appendix A, and we dedicate three chapters to the preparation of media (see Chapters 2–4). While traditional areas have not advanced dramatically in recent years, we add a substantial number of new and improved techniques (see Chapters 5-6, 8-11).

This book is targeted to the laboratory investigator, with additional chapters on large-scale closed systems
for microalgae, outdoor systems for microalgae, and outdoor farming for macroalgae (see Chapters 13-15). Counting cells and calculating cell growth rates are an important part of microalgal culturing, and three chapters discuss these topics in detail (Chapters 16-18). General physiological experimentation (Chapter 19),
special experiments involving trace metals (Chapter 4), measurements of chlorophyll pigments (Chapter 20), and measurements of endogenous rhythms (Chapter 21) provide the experimentalist with extensive background knowledge and techniques. Algal viruses (Chapter 22) are discussed both from the aspect of studying algal viruses and from the perspective of keeping algal cultures free of viruses. Sexual reproduction of algae almost always requires culturing techniques, and this topic is thoroughly addressed in Chapters 23 and 24. Finally, the last chapter introduces what may be a new area for many scientists, the ex situ preservation of endangered algae. It is now evident that some algae have become extinct and others are on the verge of extinction. Culture isolates of endangered algae can preserve species from extinction, as we learn in Chapter 25 from the person who helped pioneer this area of algal science.

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Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

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Penerbit

Oxford : Elsevier Inc.., 2005

Deskripsi Fisik

x, 578 Hlm.

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

0-12-088426-7

Klasifikasi

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Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

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Tipe Pembawa

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Edisi

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Subjek

BIOLOGI LAUT

Info Detail Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

agus

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