Insights into the interaction of carbon nanotubes and the photochemical reactions in microalgae

The integration of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with plant machinery paved the way for various solutions to enhance plants vigor and their production efficiency [1,2]. Among others, the coupling of plant photosynthetic structures with nanomaterials has suggested the capability of single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) to increase the efficiency of energy harnessing in the photosynthetic process [3]. This new knowledge may foster the exploitation of the nanotechnology tools to empower photosynthetic performance and production yields of commercially important microalgal species [4]. The research identified the physicochemical properties of SWCNTs enabling their entry into walled-cells of microalgae and developed experimental approaches to track their cell internalization. We tested the potential of the SWCNTs to improve algal fitness and photosynthetic performance by analysing the interaction of the carbon nanotubes and photochemical reactions in the model microorganism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The algal cultures were fed with stably dispersed SWCNTs and the effects of SWCNT-exposure on the function of Photosystem II and Photosystem I were studied under standard or stress-associated conditions. [1] Wang et al. 2016. Trends in Plant Science 21: 699-712. [2] Guatimosim et al. 2016. In: Bioengineering Applications of Carbon Nanostructures, A. Jorio (ed.), Springer Intern. Publ. Switzerland, pp. 17-29. [3] Giraldo et al. 2014. Nature Materials 13: 400-408. [4] Lambreva et al. 2015. Photosynthesis Research 125: 451-471.