Enhancing microalgal cell wall permeability by microbubble streaming flow

TL;DR

This study shows that microbubble streaming flow induced by ultrasound can effectively increase the permeability of microalgal cell walls at low acoustic pressures, enabling more efficient dye uptake and potential biotechnological applications.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel method using controlled microbubble streaming flow to enhance microalgal cell wall permeability at lower energy levels than traditional ultrasonication.

Findings

Microstreaming flow increases dye uptake in microalgae.

Non-spherical bubble oscillations are key to generating effective flow.

Optimal conditions involve specific acoustic pressures and frequencies.

Abstract

We demonstrate that the permeability of the cell wall of microalga $\textit{C. reinhardtii}$ can be enhanced in controlled microstreaming flow conditions using single bubbles adherent to a wall and driven by ultrasound near their resonance frequency. We find that microstreaming flow is effective at acoustic pressures as low as tens of kPa, at least one order of magnitude lower than those used in bulk ultrasonication. We quantify the increase in number of fluorescent cells for different acoustic pressure amplitudes and ultrasound exposure times. We interpret the increase in dye uptake after microstreaming flow as an indication of enhanced permeability of the cell wall. We perform microscopic visualizations to verify the occurrence of non-spherical shape oscillations of the bubbles, and to identify the optimal conditions for dye uptake. In our experimental conditions, with acoustic pressures in the range 20-40 kPa and frequencies in the range 25-70 kHz, we obtained spherical oscillations of bare microbubbles and non-spherical shape oscillations in microbubbles with algae attached to their surface. Only the latter were able to generate a non-linear microstreaming flow with sufficiently large viscous stresses to induce algae permeabilization. The results demonstrate that controlled microbubble streaming flow can enhance cell wall permeability in energy-efficient conditions.