초록
To select optimal CO<SUB>2</SUB>-tolerant microalgal species for simultaneous renewable biodiesel production and reduction of greenhouse-gas emission, this study proposed first-attempt toxicological assessment to screen CO<SUB>2</SUB>-utilizing microalgal isolates from natural water bodies present in highly biodiverse eastern Taiwan. With specified culture media (e.g., BG-11 medium) at different temperatures and CO<SUB>2</SUB> concentrations, the ranking of growth characteristics (μ; d<SUP>-1</SUP>) of microalgal isolates was determined (e.g., Chlorella sp. NIUs08 (0.233d<SUP>-1</SUP>)>Scenedesmus sp. NIUs06 (0.17d<SUP>-1</SUP>)>Chlorella sp. NIUs07 (0.0914d<SUP>-1</SUP>)>strain NIUs05 (0.085d<SUP>-1</SUP>)>Chlorella sp. NIUs09 (0.038d<SUP>-1</SUP>)). In terms of toxicology, this study provided novel dose-response assessment upon microalgal growth in response to CO<SUB>2</SUB>-inhibitory potency, suggesting promising isolates for cost-effective applications of CO<SUB>2</SUB> reduction. Although CO<SUB>2</SUB> could be utilized as sole carbon source for microalgal growth, algal tolerance to CO<SUB>2</SUB> inevitably controls the performance of growth-associated production. Thus, this first-attempt novel assessment quantitatively revealed the most promising CO<SUB>2</SUB>-utilizing microalgae obtained from estuarine water, in particular for renewable-bioenergy applications to high level CO<SUB>2</SUB> emission industry.