title: Microalgae as Solar-Powered Protein Factories.
abstract: Microalgae have an enormous ecological relevance as they contribute significantly to global carbon fixation. But also for biotechnology microalgae became increasingly interesting during the last decades as many algae provide valuable natural products. Especially the high lipid content of some species currently attracts much attention in the biodiesel industry. A further application that emerged some years ago is the use of microalgae as expression platform for recombinant proteins. Several projects on the production of therapeutics, vaccines and feed supplements demonstrated the great potential of using microalgae as novel low-cost expression platform. This review provides an overview on the prospects and advantages of microalgal protein expression systems and gives an outlook on potential future applications.
authors.affiliation: LOEWE Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), Hans-Meerwein-Strasse, Marburg, 35043, Germany.
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hempel
authors.affiliation: LOEWE Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), Hans-Meerwein-Strasse, Marburg, 35043, Germany. maier@biologie.uni-marburg.de.|Laboratory for Cell Biology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Karl-von-Frisch Strasse 8, Marburg, 35043, Germany. maier@biologie.uni-marburg.de.
authors.forename: Uwe G
authors.initials: UG
authors.lastname: Maier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000528:radiation effects; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D058086:Microalgae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D015202:Protein Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D021122:Protein Subunits; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D021122:Protein Subunits; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
keywords: Bioreactor; Microalgae; Protein expression platform; Recombinant proteins