XVI International Botanical Congess

Chemical and pharmacological studies of cyanobacterial secondary metabolites are frequently limited by the availability of metabolite. Commercial photobioreactors are often prohibitively expensive. We have constructed a low-cost photobioreactor using commercially available components. The photobioreactor vessel is modified from an 800 liter HDPE cylindrical tank in which the inner surface of the externally illuminated vessel is continuously swept to reduce the accumulation of light-limiting surface growth. Trials with two cytotoxin-producing cyanobacterial strains indicate that secondary metabolite yields in the photobioreactor equal or exceed yields obtained in bench-scale cultures.