Algae are very diverse. Physiological properties, habitat, growth rate and macromolecular components vary from algae to algae. Algae include large algae (macroalgae) such as seaweeds and small unicellular microalgae. Algalbio focuses on the cultivation of microalgae (hereafter referred to simple as "algae").
We handle a large number of algae strains. Aside from wild-type strains isolated from nature, we also have acquired special strains from research experiments conducted in the University of Tokyo and from our in-house experiments. These strains form our extensive "algae library". The core species are green unicellular algae such as Chlorella, Scenedesmus and Haematococcus. We screen and cultivate algae strains for targeted purposes.
Our library consists of strains that were obtained from previous research with robust and solid science background. Furthermore, we have unique and highly confidential in-house strains that are only found in our company.
Just like other agricultural products, algae can be grown through breeding. It usually takes crops more than 10 years to breed. In contrast, most microalgae are unicellular and only takes several hours to a day to undergo cell division. Thus, breeding and selection can be done in a short period of time.
We use two main methods for breeding:
1) The heavy ion beam method which is also used in plants. Through this, a variety of colors and patterns can be achieved in ornamental plants. This is also used in yeast to produce sake of various flavors. By using heavy ion beam technology, we have succeeded in rapidly acquiring special algae strains that are non-genetically modified.
2) The second method is acclimatization to a specific environment. By repeated subcultures of several generations of algae under a specific growth condition, it is possible to select strains that have adjusted to that condition.
By utilizing these breeding methods, we will continue to expand our algae library as one of our core technologies. Maintenance can be laborious and costly but it is essential to preserve algae biodiversity. We can provide algae strains and cultivation methods according to your request. Please feel free to contact us.
