Random mutagenesis using cold atmospheric plasma to produce mutant microalgae for hyper-recovery of rare earth elements from mining materials

Vo, PHN; Kim, M; Kuzhiumparambil, U; Hinkley, C; Hong, J; Zhang, T; Pernice, M; Cullen, PJ; Ralph, PJ

Random mutagenesis using cold atmospheric plasma to produce mutant microalgae for hyper-recovery of rare earth elements from mining materials

Vo, PHN Kim, M

Kuzhiumparambil, U Hinkley, C

Hong, J Zhang, T Pernice, M

Cullen, PJ Ralph, PJ

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Publisher:: ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Chemical Engineering Journal, 2025, 503
Issue Date:: 2025-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Vo, PHN
dc.contributor.author	Kim, M https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7059-9432
dc.contributor.author	Kuzhiumparambil, U
dc.contributor.author	Hinkley, C https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2326-4725
dc.contributor.author	Hong, J
dc.contributor.author	Zhang, T
dc.contributor.author	Pernice, M https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3431-2104
dc.contributor.author	Cullen, PJ
dc.contributor.author	Ralph, PJ
dc.date.accessioned	2025-01-17T03:14:32Z
dc.date.available	2025-01-17T03:14:32Z
dc.date.issued	2025-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	Chemical Engineering Journal, 2025, 503
dc.identifier.issn	1385-8947
dc.identifier.issn	1873-3212
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/183795
dc.description.abstract	Random mutagenesis of microalgae offers a novel solution to improve the biomining efficiency of rare earth elements (REEs). Cold atmospheric plasma is an emerging technology to mutate microalgae strains randomly and enhance their performance. This study aims to (i) investigate the performance of mutant microalgae Chlorella vulgaris for REEs recovery, (ii) assess the stability of mutant traits at different scales, (iii) examine the metabolomic profile of the mutant C. vulgaris, and (iv) explore the potential mechanism behind cold atmospheric plasma mutagenesis. The results show that microalgae mutants exposed to cold atmospheric plasma can recover up to 3 times more REEs from bauxite than the wild type. In the leachate of clay-hosted REEs, mutant microalgae can recover 7 to 25 % more REEs than the wild type. At the bench scale, mutant strains are stable in tissue culture flasks for 3 cycles. Metabolomic analysis shows that most of the pigment, total lipid and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) produced by mutant microalgae are lower than the wild type from 10 % to 55 %, except methyl arachidate (C20:0) and trans-9-elaidic acid methyl ester (C18:1). The optical emission spectra from plasma discharge shows that plasma discharge consists of excited N2*, N2+ and O species, which might cause microalgae mutagenesis.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA
dc.relation	University of Technology Sydney
dc.relation	University of Technology Sydney
dc.relation.ispartof	Chemical Engineering Journal
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.cej.2024.158512
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	0904 Chemical Engineering, 0905 Civil Engineering, 0907 Environmental Engineering
dc.subject.classification	Chemical Engineering
dc.subject.classification	4004 Chemical engineering
dc.subject.classification	4011 Environmental engineering
dc.subject.classification	4016 Materials engineering
dc.title	Random mutagenesis using cold atmospheric plasma to produce mutant microalgae for hyper-recovery of rare earth elements from mining materials
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	503
utslib.for	0904 Chemical Engineering
utslib.for	0905 Civil Engineering
utslib.for	0907 Environmental Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups/Climate Change Cluster Research Strength (C3)
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2025-01-17T03:14:31Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	503

Abstract:

Random mutagenesis of microalgae offers a novel solution to improve the biomining efficiency of rare earth elements (REEs). Cold atmospheric plasma is an emerging technology to mutate microalgae strains randomly and enhance their performance. This study aims to (i) investigate the performance of mutant microalgae Chlorella vulgaris for REEs recovery, (ii) assess the stability of mutant traits at different scales, (iii) examine the metabolomic profile of the mutant C. vulgaris, and (iv) explore the potential mechanism behind cold atmospheric plasma mutagenesis. The results show that microalgae mutants exposed to cold atmospheric plasma can recover up to 3 times more REEs from bauxite than the wild type. In the leachate of clay-hosted REEs, mutant microalgae can recover 7 to 25 % more REEs than the wild type. At the bench scale, mutant strains are stable in tissue culture flasks for 3 cycles. Metabolomic analysis shows that most of the pigment, total lipid and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) produced by mutant microalgae are lower than the wild type from 10 % to 55 %, except methyl arachidate (C20:0) and trans-9-elaidic acid methyl ester (C18:1). The optical emission spectra from plasma discharge shows that plasma discharge consists of excited N2*, N2+ and O species, which might cause microalgae mutagenesis.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/183795