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Call for papers - Transforming CO2 to Algal lipids and specialty compounds

Guest Editor(s):
Jin Liu: Peking University, China
Yandu Lu: Hainan University, China
Yantao Li: University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, USA

Submission Status: Closed 


Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts is calling for submissions to our new collection on Transforming CO2 to Algal lipids and specialty compounds. Algae, particularly microalgae, have been considered as ideal light-driven cell factories, because of the high photosynthesis efficiency, fast growth, ease of cultivation, strong environmental adaptability, non-competition for arable land, etc. In addition to synthesizing storage lipids, many algae are able to transform the photosynthetically fixed CO2 to diverse value-added products. The photoautotrophic production by algae has been receiving increasing interest in research.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Jin Liu: Peking University, China

Dr. Jin LIU is the Principal Investigator of Laboratory for Algae Biotechnology & Innovation at Peking University, a multidisciplinary laboratory denoted to unveil the secrets of algae for basic research and applied applications by means of the state-of-the-art technologies. His research interests focus on lipid metabolism, biosynthesis of value-added products, and algal synthetic biology. Since 2015, Dr. LIU has published over 50 high-quality peer-reviewed articles, five book chapters and one edited book. As PI and Co-PI, Dr. LIU has been awarded many grants from National Science Foundation of China, National Key R&D Program of China, SPURC etc. He is currently an Associate Editor of Algal Research.

Yandu Lu: Hainan University, China

Dr. Yandu Lu is a Professor at State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea and School of Oceanology, Hainan University and works on microalgae to address the question of emergent properties in which cells and organisms are more than the simple sum of their parts so that molecular biology is truly ‘biology’. He has become interested in synthetic biology - the application of genome editing to explain nature and improve nature. Over the years, the context of his interest in gene regulation, enzyme characterization, trait optimization, and value-added compound production has involved biosynthetic pathway, photosynthesis, stress response, and now artificial photosynthetic cells.

Yantao Li: University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, USA

Dr. Yantao Li received his B.S. from Nanjing University, P.R. China and Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Hong Kong and subsequently at the Department of Applied Biological Sciences at Arizona State University, and an Assistant Research Professor at Arizona State University. Beginning in 2012 Dr. Li served as an Assistant Professor for the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) at the University System of Maryland and now is an Associate Professor at the same institute. Dr. Li’s research interest is in the area of microalgal biology and biotechnology, with the goal to understand lipid synthesis, turnover, and lipid body biogenesis in microalgae, to rationally engineer algae for biofuel and high-value products such as carotenoids and omega-3 fatty acids, and to biochemically convert algal feedstock into biofuels.

About the collection


Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts is calling for submissions to our Collection on Transforming CO2 to Algal lipids and specialty compounds.

 Algae, particularly microalgae, have been considered as ideal light-driven cell factories, because of the high photosynthesis efficiency, fast growth, ease of cultivation, strong environmental adaptability, non-competition for arable land, etc. In addition to synthesizing storage lipids, many algae are able to transform the photosynthetically fixed CO2 to diverse value-added products. The photoautotrophic production by algae has been receiving increasing interest in research. 

This topical collection will emphasize the breakthroughs in both fundamental and applied research of algal fields, including but not limited to 1) algal photosynthetic CO2 fixation, 2) understanding of algal lipid metabolism and regulation, 3) biosynthesis and regulation of algal specialty compounds, 4) development of genetic tools for algae, 5) rational engineering of algae toward trait improvements. This collection will advance our understanding of algal physiology, biology, and biotechnology, thus paving the way toward more efficient photoautotrophic production. 

Image credit: Miha Creative / stock.adobe.com

  1. Amphora coffeaeformis, a unicellular diatom, can significantly accumulate lipids under nitrogen (N) limitation. However, the molecular mechanism underlying lipid accumulation in A. coffeaeformis remains unknown a...

    Authors: Yulin Cui, Kang Wang, Xiuzhi Zhou, Chunxiao Meng and Zhengquan Gao
    Citation: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:189
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. To improve the CO2 tolerance of a marine microalga Chlorella sp. of which the production capacity has been demonstrated industrially, a mutant library was created and a strain hct53 was screened. Compared to the ...

    Authors: Jiahua Gu, Yuan Xiao, Mingcan Wu, Aoqi Wang, Xinyu Cui, Yi Xin, Kalyanee Paithoonrangsarid and Yandu Lu
    Citation: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:143
    Content type: Research Published on:

    The Correction to this article has been published in Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:176

  3. The silicified cell wall of diatoms, also known as frustule, shows huge potential as an outstanding bio-nanomaterial for hemostatic applications due to its high hemostatic efficiency, good biocompatibility, an...

    Authors: Lulu Wang, Yan Sun, Ruihao Zhang, Kehou Pan, Yuhang Li, Ruibing Wang, Lin Zhang, Chengxu Zhou, Jian Li, Yun Li, Baohua Zhu and Jichang Han
    Citation: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:136
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. The use of marine microalgae in industrial systems is attractive for converting CO2 into value-added products using saline water and sunlight. The plant nature and demonstrated industrial potential facilitate Chl...

    Authors: Xinping Gu, Ying Deng, Aoqi Wang, Qinhua Gan, Yi Xin, Kalyanee Paithoonrangsarid and Yandu Lu
    Citation: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:133
    Content type: Methodology Published on:

  5. Microalgal biomass represents a sustainable bioresource for various applications, such as food, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, feed, and other bio-based products. For decades, its mass production has attract...

    Authors: Song Qin, Kang Wang, Fengzheng Gao, Baosheng Ge, Hongli Cui and Wenjun Li
    Citation: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:131
    Content type: Review Published on:

  6. Genomic three-dimensional (3D) spatial organization plays a key role in shaping gene expression and associated chromatin modification, and it is highly sensitive to environmental stress conditions. In microalg...

    Authors: Tongtong Yan, Kexin Wang, Kexin Feng, Xiangchen Gao, Yinghong Jin, Hongping Wu, Wenfei Zhang and Li Wei
    Citation: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:129
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. β-Carotene is one of the economically important carotenoids, having functions as the antioxidant to remove harmful free radicals and as the precursor for vitamin A and other high-valued xanthophyll such as zea...

    Authors: Danqiong Huang, Chenglong Liu, Mingshan Su, Zhiyong Zeng, Chaogang Wang, Zhangli Hu, Sulin Lou and Hui Li
    Citation: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:127
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Microalgae's low tolerance to high CO2 concentrations presents a significant challenge for its industrial application, especially when considering the utilization of industrial exhaust gas streams with high CO2 c...

    Authors: Hyun Gi Koh, Jun Muk Cho, Seungjib Jeon, Yong Keun Chang, Bongsoo Lee and Nam Kyu Kang
    Citation: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:113
    Content type: Research Published on:

  9. Microalgae are widely considered as multifunctional cell factories that are able to transform the photo-synthetically fixed CO2 to numerous high-value compounds, including lipids, carbohydrates, proteins and pigm...

    Authors: Hailong Yan, Meng Ding, Juan Lin, Liang Zhao, Danxiang Han and Qiang Hu
    Citation: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:104
    Content type: Research Published on:

  10. Light is a key regulatory factor for photosynthesis and metabolism of microalgae. The diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum is capable of exhibiting metabolic flexibility in response to light fluctuations. However, th...

    Authors: Wei Ding, Ying Ye, Lihua Yu, Meijing Liu and Jin Liu
    Citation: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:103
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. Diatoms have been viewed as ideal cell factories for production of some high-value bioactive metabolites, such as fucoxanthin, but their applications are restrained by limited biomass yield. Mixotrophy, by usi...

    Authors: Song Wang, Xiyi Zhou, Sha Wu, Mengkai Zhao and Zhangli Hu
    Citation: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:84
    Content type: Research Published on:

  12. The marine alga Nannochloropsis oceanica, an emerging model belonging to Heterokont, is considered as a promising light-driven eukaryotic chassis for transforming carbon dioxide to various compounds including car...

    Authors: Meijing Liu, Wei Ding, Yufang Pan, Hanhua Hu and Jin Liu
    Citation: Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2023 16:74
    Content type: Research Published on:

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of Research Articles. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read our submission guidelines. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Transforming CO2 to Algal lipids and specialty compounds" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.