The invention pertains to a method for synthesizing a product of interest by culturing a microalgal cell producing the product of interest in the dark in a culture medium comprising an organic acid as a fixed carbon source, wherein the microalgal cell is a facultative heterotroph. The product of interest can be a microalgal biomass, a pigment, terpene, recombinant molecule, biogas, or a precursor thereof. In an embodiment, the culture medium comprises urea as a primary source of nitrogen. In one embodiment, the microalgal cell belongs to the order Chlamydomonadales. A method of identifying and isolating a microalgal cell having a preferred characteristic that is suitable for synthesis of a product of interest is also provided, the method comprising identifying and isolating a non-mutagenized or recombinant microalgal cell from a microalgal culture using a fluorescence activated cell sorting technique and/or a phototaxic response.

The present disclosure relates to methods for compositional analysis of algal biomass, specifically weight percent elemental composition. In at least one embodiment, a method for compositional analysis of an algae sample includes flash combusting a first portion of the algae sample to provide a carbon wt %, a hydrogen wt %, and a nitrogen weight %. The method includes pyrolysing a second portion of the algae sample to provide an oxygen wt %. The method includes scanning a third portion of the algae sample using x-ray fluorescence to provide an elemental intensity. The method includes normalizing the elemental intensity using the carbon wt %, the hydrogen wt %, the nitrogen wt %, and/or the oxygen wt %.

The invention relates to methods of assessing communication between cells. Methods of the invention use optical reporters of cellular electrical activity to evaluate signal propagation between cells and can be used to study an individual synapse or a complex network of interconnected cells. Aspects of the invention provide a method for characterizing signal propagation between cells. The method includes providing a first cell containing a light-generating reporter and a second cell, in which the first cell and the second cell are in communication. The second cell may contain an optical actuator of cellular electrical activity. The second cell is exposed to a stimulus and an optical signal from the first cell is detected.

The introduction of tools to study, control or expand the inner-workings of algae has been slow to develop. Provided are embodiments of a molecular method based on guanidinium-rich molecular transporters (GR-MoTrs) for bringing molecular cargos into algal cells. The methods of the disclosure have been shown to work in wild-type algae that have an intact cell wall. Developed using Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, this method is also successful with less studied algae, including Neochloris oleoabundans and Scenedesmus dimorphus, thus providing a new and versatile tool for algal research and modification. The method of delivering a cargo compound to an algal cell comprises contacting an algal cell with a guanidinium-rich delivery vehicle comprising a guanidinium-rich molecular transporter (GR-MoTr) linked to a cargo compound desired to be delivered to the algal cell, whereby the guanidinium-rich molecular transporter can traverse the algal cell wall, thereby delivering the cargo compound to the algal cell.

The present invention provides a method for preparing algal cells used for evaluating a toxicity of a chemical substance by delayed luminescence, the method comprising the step of freezing algal cells in a logarithmic growth phase.

There is described a method for assaying for loss of viability of a photosynthetic organism (preferably a microorganism) in an aqueous liquid. In a preferred embodiment, the method comprises the step of using fluorescence to correlate the photorepair index for the organism in the aqueous liquid to survivorship of the organism (preferably a microorganism) after it is exposed to ultraviolet radiation, thereby assessing viability.

A bioindicator assembly for determining a level of CO.sub.2 in a surrounding environment includes an article and a bioindicator component applied to the article. The bioindicator component includes a composite fabric that has a substrate, wherein a biodegradable material is applied to the substrate, a membrane that is coupled with the composite fabric to define an interior cavity, the membrane being semi-permeable, a bioindicator that changes color, form, shape, or texture when exposed to CO.sub.2, and an attachment mechanism coupled to a rear side of the composite fabric.

An excellent photosensitivity is exhibited by a protein including, at a position or positions corresponding to one or two or more positions selected from the group made of the following (1) to (3) in a first amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 1: (1) positions 39, 94, 98, 102, 110, 113, 114, 162, 224, 225, 230, 231, and 235, (2) positions 53, 61, 68, 74, 76, 80, 130, 137, 194, 195, 198, 200, 204, 205, 209, 210, 253, and 254, and (3) positions 46, 83, 84, 87, 90, 91, 116, 117, 120, 124, 139, 142, 143, 146, 173, 214, 216, 217, 238, 242, and 245, an amino acid residue different from that in the first amino acid sequence, and that has channel activity.

The present invention relates to the diagnosis of clinical conditions characterized by undesirable and/or abnormal selectin expression. In particular, the invention provides for the use of fucoidans for the detection of selectins using imaging techniques including ultrasonography, scintigraphy and MRI. Selectin-targeted imaging agents are provided that comprise at least one fucoidan moiety associated with at least one detectable moiety. Methods and kits are described for using these imaging agents in the diagnosis of clinical conditions such as thrombosis, myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, stroke and ischemic brain trauma, neurodegenerative disorders, tumor metastasis and tumor growth, and rheumatoid arthritis.

A method and system for direct quantification of the concentration of biomolecules in algal biomass. The biomolecules include lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. An algae slurry is cultivated within a cultivation vessel, and algal biomass is harvested therefrom. A portion of biomass is analyzed using solvent-lipid analysis to extract lipids and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is used to quantify the biomolecular concentration of the biomass.