Prolonging the lifetime and activity of silica immobilised Cyanidium caldarium

7 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables

Over the past few years the idea of living photosynthetic materials has advanced from concept to reality. This work outlines the improvements made in the immobilisation of the thermotolerant acidophile Cyanidium caldarium (Tilden) Geitler SAG 16.91 within porous and transparent silica gels with the view to targeting photochemical materials that can be used to mitigate rising CO2 emissions. Our results suggest that the immobilised cells are autofluorescent for at least 75 days post encapsulation and can maintain a steady oxygen production rate over a similar timeframe corroborating the viability and physiological activity of silica immobilised C. caldarium

This work was realised in the framework of ‘‘Redugaz’’, an Interreg IV (France–Wallonia) project funded by the European Union and the Walloon community. The authors also thank the Interuniversity Attraction Pole (IAP-P6/17) for financially supporting ‘‘Inanomat’’, a Belgian federal government project. C. Meunier and B. Vandoorne thank the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) for their Postdoctoral and Research Fellow position respectively. B.-L. Su acknowledges the Chinese Central Government for an ‘‘Expert of the State’’ position in the program of ‘‘Thousands Talents’’ and the Chinese Ministry of Education for a ‘‘Changjiang Scholar’’ position at the Wuhan University of Technology. H. Sarmento benefited from a grant from the Spanish MCyI (Juan de la Cierva Fellowship JCI-2008-2727)

Peer reviewed