Through the MikRho project, CFEED, the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) and SINTEF Ocean, aim to strengthen the industrial microalgae industry by increasing the knowledge about interactions between the microbiome and the microalgae Rhodomonas.
This knowledge will be used to establish a Rhodomonas culture with a beneficial bacterial community, increased growth rate and stability, whilst also investigating the impact of culture technology and conditions on the microbiome.
Microalgae and copepods
As one of Norway's largest microalgae producers, CFEED contributes to new sustainable feed solutions through its production of microalgae and the copepod Acartia tonsa.
Copepods are small crustaceans that are a natural part of the diet for other crustaceans, fish and whales. The copepod CFEED produces can be used as starter feed for, for example, cod, ballan wrasse and sea bream. It thereby contributes to increased productivity and fish welfare through improved growth, survival and quality.
A consistent production of high-quality microalgae is required to obtain copepod production of stable and good quality. The microalgae production is therefore the foundation of CFEED's production chain. Microalgae production starts from microscopical volumes of algae culture, which is gradually scaled up to larger volumes prior to being harvested in an industrial production.
Bacteria in the culture are mainly considered as unwanted contaminants that may have an adverse impact on growth, and lead to sudden culture collapses. For industrial producers, such unpredictability is challenging.
However, there are also bacteria that can be beneficial to the microalgae, through promoting growth, stabilising the culture and having a positive effect on the downstream processing of the microalgae.
Increasing the knowledge on how to create a beneficial environment and stabilise the microbiome from small-sized cultures to industrial scale production, is therefore important for the microalgae community in Norway and worldwide.