Unlocking the hidden metabolism of algae to advance the promise of renewable fuels and sustainable biomass

Researchers at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center have solved a long-standing mystery of how a model green microalga reorganizes its central metabolism to supercharge growth when given access to both light and a carbon source—a finding with broad implications for developing algae as a sustainable source of renewable fuels, bioproducts, and biomass. Their study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.