Here in a natural alkaline lake situation Spirulina
has its ups and downs at 1east once every
24 hours, and much more often if there is
alight breeze stirring the lake - and it
produces between 2 to 4 grams of biomass
every day that the climate conditions are
favorable.
Our artificial basins are not deep enough
to allow the gas vesicle system to work effectively
in protecting from photolysis (destruction
especially of the chlorophyll by light).
But by stirring the culture with paddlewheels
placed across one arm of the raceway basin,
the filaments are tumbled up and down, into
the light and down underneath the other filaments
where (when the culture is dense enough)
it is dark and respiration can take place.
This includes the act of converting the carbohydrate
photosynthate into proteins. Chemical reactions
within a cell are extremely rapid, so that
if the light-dark, photosynthesis-respiration
cycle can be compressed into a matter of
a few seconds by creating sufficient turbulence
within the basin, our friend, Spirulina,
can produce 40 or more grams of biomass per
day per square meter of surface area. That
means that one square meter of basin area
could provide the supplemental nutrients
for at least four children ! There are no
commercial-size Spirulina basin systems that
give 40 grams even though from an engineering
standpoint it is possible. |
Spirulina is a member of the Family Osciliatoriaceae
- which means that they oscillate or move
backward and forward. This is done by fimbria
which are tubular filaments 5 to 7 nanometers
in diameter and from 1 to 2 microns in length
that protrude from extremely small pores
situated around the circumference of the
ends of the cells where the cells join to
form a filament. These fimbria, like oarsmen
in a galley slave ship, propel the filament
to and fro. The "nerve" or protein
apparatus that must run the length of the
filament giving the command to row backward
or forward has not been discovered.
