Reduction in carbon dioxide emission, and enhancement of cell yield by control of light intensity in photomixotrophic batch culture of Marchantia polymorpha.

Photomixotrophic cultures of Marchantia polymorpha were examined under light irradiation using glucose as an organic carbon source. The activity of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase in the cells was found to be maximum at an absorbed light energy of E(c) = 8.7 x 10(2)W/kg and the respiration rate of the cells remained at a low level in the range of E(c) = 1.7 x 10(2) to 1.5 x 10(3) W/kg. Batch culture of M. polymorpha was carried out in a bioreactor while keeping the E(c) value at about 3.5 x 10(2) W/kg by regulating incident light intensity between 19 and 220 W/m2. During the culture conducted under controlled light, CO2 evolution from the reactor was effectively suppressed and the obtained cell yield was 0.88 kg dry cells/kg glucose, whereas the yield was 0.62 kg dry cells/kg glucose throughout the culture conducted at the constant incident light intensity of 50 W/m2.