Airapetov, Robert

The current search for an efficient form of alternative energy has put a large focus on algal biofuels. This biofuel is very efficient, environmentally friendly, and acts as a virtually inexhaustible resource. The major issue with algal biofuel is its vast consumption of space to store the large amounts of algae necessary for fuel production. This is why scientists are trying to figure out ways to make algal storage units, photobioreactors, and the algae itself more efficient. In order to do so, the lipid metabolism of algae needs to be mapped. Using pre-existing maps of algal lipid metabolism, the lipid pathways of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and its close relation Volvox carteri f. nagariensis were inspected. The key proteins KAR, HAD, EAR, and PP, had not yet been confirmed. Therefore, using preexisting metabolism maps, BLAST, and predicted protein sequences, the existence of these proteins in the aforementioned algae has been theoretically confirmed.