title: Mathematical modeling of unicellular microalgae and cyanobacteria metabolism for biofuel production.
abstract: The conversion of microalgae lipids and cyanobacteria carbohydrates into biofuels appears to be a promising source of renewable energy. This requires a thorough understanding of their carbon metabolism, supported by mathematical models, in order to optimize biofuel production. However, unlike heterotrophic microorganisms that utilize the same substrate as sources of energy and carbon, photoautotrophic microorganisms require light for energy and CO2 as carbon source. Furthermore, they are submitted to permanent fluctuating light environments due to outdoor cultivation or mixing inducing a flashing effect. Although, modeling these nonstandard organisms is a major challenge for which classical tools are often inadequate, this step remains a prerequisite towards efficient optimization of outdoor biofuel production at an industrial scale.
authors.affiliation: INRA UR0050, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement, avenue des étangs, 11100 Narbonne, France; INRIA, BIOCORE, 2004 route des lucioles, 06902 Sophia-Antipolis, France. Electronic address: caroline.baroukh@supagro.inra.fr.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baroukh
authors.affiliation: INRIA, BIOCORE, 2004 route des lucioles, 06902 Sophia-Antipolis, France.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Muñoz-Tamayo
authors.affiliation: INRIA, BIOCORE, 2004 route des lucioles, 06902 Sophia-Antipolis, France; LOV UPMC CNRS, UMR 7093, Station Zoologique, B.P. 28, 06234 Villefranche-sur-mer, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bernard
authors.affiliation: INRA UR0050, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie de l'Environnement, avenue des étangs, 11100 Narbonne, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Steyer
mesh_terms: D001669:Biochemical Phenomena; D056804:Biofuels; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D058086:Microalgae / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels