Portugal university develops new tech for monitoring microalgae populations

The new technology transforms seemingly random electrical fluctuations into information about living microalgae populations, creating new opportunities for environmental monitoring, aquaculture, and bioelectrochemical systems, FCTUC stated in a release sent to the Lusa news agency.

The study, led by researchers from the Bioelectronics & Bioenergy Research Lab, the Centre for Functional Ecology, and the TERRA Associate Laboratory (all part of the FCTUC Department of Life Sciences), focuses on the marine microalga Phaeodactylum tricornutum, an organism used as a model in scientific research.

According to FCTUC, the team developed a three-dimensional electrode with a porous structure and very low electrical impedance, enabling a more efficient connection between the cells’ ionic processes and the electrical signals the device measures.

“This configuration makes it possible to identify electrical fluctuations associated with microalgae activity that are difficult to observe using conventional techniques.”

The researchers showed that living cells significantly alter the electrical fluctuations the system records; they also observed that as microalgae concentration increases, the statistical characteristics of the detected electrical signals change.

The results indicate that so-called electrochemical 'noise' may contain information about the cells’ biological activity.

“We are accustomed to thinking of electrical noise as something that should be eliminated. What we show is precisely the opposite: these fluctuations can contain information about the state and dynamics of a living population. It is like gaining a new window to observe biological processes that, until now, were virtually invisible electrically,” stated project coordinator Paulo Rocha.

According to the FCTUC faculty member, in the long term, this approach could help us “understand how microorganism populations respond to environmental changes and how collective dynamics emerge within these communities.”

“It could also inspire new monitoring technologies for aquatic ecology, aquaculture, water quality, and bioelectrochemical systems,” he added.