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Water
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Microalgae Control and Utilization: Challenges and Perspectives
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Microalgae Control and Utilization: Challenges and Perspectives

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water, Agriculture and Aquaculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 3965

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Costanza Baldisserotto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Plant Cytophysiology, Department of Environmental and Prevention Sciences, University of Ferrara, C.so Ercole I d'Este, 32, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
Interests: microalgae biology; microalgae biotechnology; photosynthesis; plant cell ultrastructure
Dr. Tania Mazzuca Sobczuk

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chemical Engineering Department, University of Almeria, Almería, Spain
Interests: microalgae; forward osmosis; microalgae biotechnology; biomass valorization; phycobiliproteins

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms comprising a very wide variety of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic species that live in all environments, mainly the aquatic ones. Due to their metabolic plasticity, microalgae have attracted great interest for their exploitation in various biotechnological fields, such as phytoremediation, the valorization of organic wastes or by-products, organic farming, or the production of green energy, food/feed, cosmeceuticals, and nutraceuticals. As a result, great attention has been paid to the controlled cultivation of these microorganisms. On the other hand, in natural environments, microalgae can produce blooms, causing eutrophication problems; in addition, cyanobacteria and dinophlagellates especially include harmful species producing toxins. Thus, to prevent environmental hazards that can also affect the health of animals and humans, it is important to develop strategies to control and monitor the growth of dangerous species and/or the occurrence of undesired algal blooms.

This Special Issue aims at gathering scientific contributions (original research articles, short communications, and comprehensive reviews) on microalgae in a broad thematic scenario, emphasizing their implications and future challenges in the context of strong changes in the environment, climate, as well as in society and human habits.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Phytoremediation;
  • The production of microalgae biomass for food/feed, cosmeceuticals, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceuticals;
  • Valorization of waste (by-products and wastes/wastewaters);
  • Microalgae cultivation solutions (production and harvesting);
  • Algal bloom control;
  • Microalgae and the circular economy;
  • Microalgae and the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals);
  • The control and/or valorization of harmful microalgae.

Dr. Costanza Baldisserotto
Dr. Tania Mazzuca Sobczuk
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • microalgae
  • cultivation of microalgae
  • phytoremediation
  • wastewaters
  • algal bloom
  • microalgal toxins

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 11126 KiB  
Article
Anaerobic Enrichment and Succession of Microcystin-Degrading Bacterial Communities from Shrimp Pond Sediment and Shrimp Intestine
by Wenjie Zhao, Xiangdong Bi, Xinyu Wang, Chuanyin Liu, Dajuan Zhang and Wei Dai
Water 2025, 17(6), 774; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17060774 - 7 Mar 2025
Viewed by 49
Abstract
Under anaerobic conditions, microcystins (MCs)-degrading bacteria from shrimp pond sediment and the shrimp intestine were repeatedly enriched using Widdel medium with MCs as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen. The succession of two bacterial communities during anaerobic enrichment was compared, and anaerobic [...] Read more.
Under anaerobic conditions, microcystins (MCs)-degrading bacteria from shrimp pond sediment and the shrimp intestine were repeatedly enriched using Widdel medium with MCs as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen. The succession of two bacterial communities during anaerobic enrichment was compared, and anaerobic MC-degrading bacterial strains were isolated from the final enriched bacterial communities. The results showed that, with the increase in the enrichment time, the alpha diversity indices of the bacterial communities from the pond sediment and shrimp intestine decreased significantly at first (p<0.05) and then increased gradually, but the difference was not significant (p>0.05). The composition of the dominant genera changed significantly at first and then gradually stabilized. After six instances of enrichment, the bacterial communities from the pond sediment and shrimp intestine had similar microbial diversity and essentially the same dominant genera. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) revealed the significant differentiation of the original bacterial communities between the pond sediment and shrimp intestine, but no significant separation of the final enriched communities. Compared with the original bacterial communities, the degradation rates of MCs by the final enriched communities from the pond sediment and shrimp intestine were increased by 1.01 times and 1.42 times, respectively. Three anaerobic MC-degrading bacterial strains were isolated from the final enriched bacterial communities and identified as Shewanella algae, Serratia marcescens, and Bacillus flexu. They could all degrade MCs, but there were significant differences in their degradation rates, which could differ by more than 100 times. Our results suggest that a common native anaerobic MC-degrading bacterial community exists at different sites in the shrimp pond, and anaerobic biodegradation plays an important role in eliminating MC pollution in shrimp ponds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microalgae Control and Utilization: Challenges and Perspectives)
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23 pages, 4130 KiB  
Article
Machine Learning-Based Early Warning of Algal Blooms: A Case Study of Key Environmental Factors in the Anzhaoxin River Basin
by Yuyin Ao, Juntao Fan, Fen Guo, Mingyue Li, Aopu Li, Yue Shi and Jian Wei
Water 2025, 17(5), 725; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17050725 - 1 Mar 2025
Viewed by 292
Abstract
Algal blooms are a major risk to aquatic ecosystem health and potable water safety. Traditional statistical models often fail to accurately predict algal bloom dynamics due to their complexity. Machine learning, adept at managing high-dimensional and non-linear data, provides a superior predictive approach [...] Read more.
Algal blooms are a major risk to aquatic ecosystem health and potable water safety. Traditional statistical models often fail to accurately predict algal bloom dynamics due to their complexity. Machine learning, adept at managing high-dimensional and non-linear data, provides a superior predictive approach to this challenge. In this study, we employed support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), and backpropagation neural network (BPNN) models to predict the severity of algal blooms in the Anzhaoxin River Basin based on an algal density-based grading standard. The SVM model demonstrated the highest accuracy with training and test set accuracies of 0.96 and 0.92, highlighting its superiority in small-sample learning. The Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) technique was utilized to evaluate the contribution of environmental variables in various predictive models. The results show that TP is the most significant environmental factor affecting the algal bloom outbreak in Anzhaoxin River, and the phosphorus management strategy is more suitable for the management of the artificial water body in northeast China. This study contributes to exploring the potential application of machine learning models in diagnosing and predicting riverine ecological issues, providing valuable insights and support for the protection and management of aquatic ecosystems in the Anzhaoxin River Basin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microalgae Control and Utilization: Challenges and Perspectives)
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22 pages, 3532 KiB  
Article
Optimization of a Chlorella vulgaris-Based Carbon Sequestration Technique Using an Alkaline Medium of Wood Biomass Ash Extract
by György Fekete, Szandra Klátyik, András Sebők, Anna Boglárka Dálnoki, Anita Takács, Miklós Gulyás, Imre Czinkota, András Székács, Csaba Gyuricza and László Aleksza
Water 2024, 16(24), 3696; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16243696 - 21 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1379
Abstract
Algae communities as primary producers are essential elements of aquatic ecosystems and contribute significantly to oxygen production, carbon dioxide fixation, and nutrient transport processes in water bodies. The use of algae-based carbon capture and storage technologies does not produce harmful by-products that require [...] Read more.
Algae communities as primary producers are essential elements of aquatic ecosystems and contribute significantly to oxygen production, carbon dioxide fixation, and nutrient transport processes in water bodies. The use of algae-based carbon capture and storage technologies does not produce harmful by-products that require disposal, and the resulting algal biomass can be valuable across various industrial sectors. In this study, model experiments were conducted to develop sequential absorption–microalgae hybrid CO2-capture methods. To facilitate CO2 capture from flue gases, wood biomass ash (WBA), an agricultural by-product, was utilized for its alkaline properties, while the flue gas scrubbing medium was regenerated by algae that restored alkalinity during their growth. In our experiments, one of our goals was to determine the optimal conditions for achieving maximum algal biomass growth in the shortest possible time. The suitability of WBA for flue gas cleaning was tested via simulation of CO2 introduction. Moreover, a method was developed to determine the dissolved inorganic carbon content with the use of an OxiTop device monitoring the changes in pressure. The applied device was a closed, static, and pressure-based respirometer originally designed to determine the biological activity of microorganisms in both solid and liquid samples. In addition, the effects of CO2-enriched WBA extract on algae cultivation were also analyzed, confirming that it imposed no growth inhibition and identifying the concentration (10% WBA) that optimally promoted algal growth. The optimal initial algal concentration and nutrient conditions for maximum growth were also determined. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microalgae Control and Utilization: Challenges and Perspectives)
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24 pages, 2711 KiB  
Article
Winter Season Outdoor Cultivation of an Autochthonous Chlorella-Strain in a Pilot-Scale Prototype for Urban Wastewater Treatment
by Elisa Benà, Pierluigi Giacò, Sara Demaria, Roberta Marchesini, Michele Melis, Giulia Zanotti, Costanza Baldisserotto and Simonetta Pancaldi
Water 2024, 16(18), 2635; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16182635 - 17 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1670
Abstract
The global population increase during the last century has significantly amplified freshwater demand, leading to higher wastewater (WW) production. European regulations necessitate treating WW before environmental. Microalgae have gained attention for wastewater treatment (WWT) due to their efficiency in remediating nutrients and pollutants, [...] Read more.
The global population increase during the last century has significantly amplified freshwater demand, leading to higher wastewater (WW) production. European regulations necessitate treating WW before environmental. Microalgae have gained attention for wastewater treatment (WWT) due to their efficiency in remediating nutrients and pollutants, alongside producing valuable biomass. This study investigates the phycoremediation potential of a Chlorella-like strain isolated from urban WW in a 600L-scale system under winter conditions. Experiments in December 2021 and February 2022 tested the strain’s adaptability to varying environmental conditions, particularly temperatures (min-max temperature range: from −3.69 to 10.61 °C in December and −3.96 to 17.61 °C in February), and its ability to meet legal discharge limits. In December, low temperatures algal growth. Nitrates showed an RE of about 92%, while ammonia slightly decreased (RE, about 32%), and phosphorous remained unchanged. In February, mild temperatures increased algal density (33.3 × 106 cell mL−1) and, at the end of experiment, all nutrients were below legal limits with very high RE % (NH4+, 91.43; PO43− 97.32). Both trials showed an E. coli RE, % = 99%. The study highlights the potential of microalgae for WWT and the importance of considering seasonal variations when implementing these systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microalgae Control and Utilization: Challenges and Perspectives)
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