Inducing reversible or irreversible pores in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii with electroporation: Impact of treatment parameters

Electroporation is investigated as a possible means to facilitate the extraction of valuable compounds from microalgae. In addition, reversible or irreversible pores on the cell membrane can be obtained by changing the PEF conditions. In this paper, we discuss the impact of PEF parameters (pulse duration, ranging from 5 to 500 mu s, and electrical field amplitude, values up to 7 kV.cm(-1)) and biomass characteristics (cell concentration, physiology) on the treatment efficiency and energy demand to induce reversible and irreversible permeabilization. Though similar levels of maximum reversible and irreversible permeabilization were obtained for all PEF conditions, the lowest energy demand and temperature increase were found for the lowest pulse duration (5 mu s) tested. To better characterize microalgae electroporation, pore characterization (size and resealing time) was assessed. Pores with a maximum radius ranging from 0.8 to 0.9 nm reseal in few seconds, and do not affect cell division capability.