Genetically Modified Algae for Biofuel Production

Rapid consumption of fossil fuels has led to emission of a significant amount of greenhouse gases, creating a serious impact on the global climate change. Hence, there is a dire need for the development and application of complementary and alternative renewable energy sources. Among various microbes, algae have recently emerged as one of the potential sources of biofuel. Recent studies have shown various genetic modifications in microalgae can assist in the enhanced production of biofuel as well as the production of other natural compounds such as eicosapentanoic acid, decosahexaenoic acid, vitamins, and pigments. Therefore, this chapter discusses such genetic modifications in different algal species that promote biofuel production. Various algae such as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella minutissima, Chlorella sorokiniana, Chlorella variabilis, Dunaliella salina, Nannochloropsis gaditana, Nannochloropsis oceanica, Nannochloropsis salina, and Phaeodactylum tricornutum were genetically modified in different studies for increasing the production of biofuels. Various genes such as, DGTT2, DGTT3, DGTT4, DYRK, PLA2, CHT7, nNoRca-like, DnaJ, CAO, and DGAT2 were targeted for genetic engineering and modification for enhancement of biofuel production in the algae. Enzymes such as glutamate dehydrogenase, thioesterase, acetyltransferase, glutathione transferase, and others may play a crucial role in the biofuel production pathways that can be rationally altered. Thus, further characterization and optimization of the growth conditions of these genetically modified algal strains would be useful for the scale-up studies for biofuel production.