Centre Algatech

Algae are unique organisms performing one of the most advanced energy conversion process on Earth ’’the Photosynthesis’’. In oxygenic photosynthesis light energy of the Sun is first converted into reductants and chemically bound energy. The reductants are then primarily used for fixation of inorganic CO2, converting it into an organic form, that can be stored as biomass.

Intriguing aspect of algal life is their ability to inhabit the harshest and unhospitable biotopes for other organisms. Algae can be found in places such as arid and hot deserts, hot springs, salt pools and ponds with very high salinity, freezing and UV rich biomes of Arctic and Antarctica as well as freezing oceans at temperatures close to -10 °C, where they are still able to perform photosynthesis. In order to survive, acclimate, and adapt to such a hostile environments, cells have to utilize several types of mechanisms to counterbalance the effects of adverse stress on their metabolism.

The mechanisms of maintenance of effective function of photosynthesis include adjustment of the antenna size, pigment composition, repair of photoinhibited photosynthetic complexes, and also alterations in the carbon fixation and consecutive carbon metabolism. Second site of response is the acclimation on the level of membrane. Upon stress recognition, the homeostasis is being maintained by the de-novo synthesis of fatty acids, fatty acid unsaturation (addition of one or more double bonds to the carbon backbone of fatty acids) and/or elongation (addition of more carbons to the fatty acid chain) and finally utilization of storage of lipids. The homeostasis on the protein level includes the degradation of proteins that have been damaged by the effect of stress and synthesis of proteins involved in the protection of the cell. The mechanism for keeping carbohydrate homeostasis under stressful conditions consist of carbohydrate biosynthesis and/or degradation based on the type of stress and under certain stresses also compatible solutes are being synthesized.