Research Units

Laboratory of Alternative Energy Sources

Laboratory of Energy Alternative Sources was founded in1972. The main scientific fields of the laboratory are: algology, microbiology, biotechnology.

RESEARCH MAIN DIRECTIONS

• Microalgae, cyanobacteria and purple (sulfur, non-sulfur) photosynthesizing bacteria in soil, mineral, fresh and marine environments with the special emphasis on biodiversity, systematics and secondary metabolism
• Renewable biomass efficient sources (microalgae, cyanobacteria) for fuels (biodiesel, bioethanol) and valuable biologically active substances (lipids, fatty acids, proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates, pigments, other bioadditives) production
• Nodule bacteria (genera: Rhizobium, Mesorhizobium, Sinorhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, etc.) from wild legume plants distributed in Armenia
• Biofertilizers: technologies development and application. Saline soils restoration
• Culture collections: microalgae, cyanobacteria, purple (sulfur, non-sulfur) photosynthesizing bacteria, nitrogen-fixing bacteria

MAIN INVESTIGATION RESULTS

• In the frames of basic financing a vast culture collection of microalgae, cyanobacteria and purple (sulfur, non-sulfur) photosynthesizing bacteria has been established.
• Growth conditions, yield of biomass, synthesis of various biologically active substances by photosynthesizing microorganisms have been revealed and optimized.
• A new biological fertilizer "Rizomix" has been developed, which significantly increases the yield of legumes.
• The distribution of root nodule bacteria in the soils of Artsakh has been studied for the first time.

Within the Republican research grants funded by the RA Science Committee

• The main objective of the MESCS RA SC19YR‐1F051 (2019-2021) “Brewery wastewater treatment by the use of green unicellular microalgae” project is to evaluate the growth and brewery wastewater treatment by Parachlorella kessleri, Chlrorella vulgaris, Chlorella protothecoides and Neochloris oleoabundans microalgae strains in photobioreactors under batch and continuous mode (Project Manager: Dr. A. Tsaturyan)
• Within the framework of the MESCS RA SC18T-1F118 (2018-2020) “Study of the systematics and taxonomic affiliation of purple photosynthetic bacteria” project, the systematics and taxonomy of purple non-sulfur and sulfur photosynthetic bacteria maintained in the laboratory culture collection have been studied. Based on the 16S rRNA gene analysis, species identification and confirmation of taxonomic status of bacteria, comparative and phylogenetic analyses of the studied microorganisms with the establishment of closely related links have been carried out. According to the data of molecular genetic studies, the culture collection contains 9 genera and 15 species of purple non-sulfur and sulfur photosynthetic bacteria (Project Manager: Dr. V. Goginyan)
• Within the framework of the MESCS RA SC No. A16-1f37 (2017) “Study of peculiarities of 5-aminolevulinic acid biosynthesis by photosynthetic bacteria” project, the exogenous synthesis of 5-aminolevulinic acid by the cells of photosynthesizing bacteria Rhodobacter, Rhodopseudomonas, Rhodospirillum and their mutants obtained as a result of experimental mutagenesis was studied (Executor: Dr. B. Harutyunyan)
• Within the framework of the MESCS RA SC 16YR-2I029 (2016-2018) “Study of peculiarities of the secondary carotenogenesis in green microalgae” project, general mechanisms, peculiarities of the secondary carotenogenesis and associated with it morphological and physiological adaptations in green microalgae of Chlorellales, Chlamydomonadales and Scenedesmales orders at different models of the experimental abiotic stress were studied (Project Manager: Dr. A. Tsaturyan)
• In the framework of the MESCS RA SC 13РБ-043 (2014-2016) “Ecological and biological aspects of the research of microalgae and cyanobacteria - producers of unsaturated fatty acids under the action of 5-aminolevulinic esters” project 5-aminolevulinic esters (5-ALA) with different lengths of the alkyl radical of the alcohol fragment were synthesized and characterized using physical and chemical methods. The obtained compounds were studied as one of the growth factors of microalgae and cyanobacteria as well as stimulators of accumulation of polyunsaturated fatty acids in strain-producers. Comprehensive characteristics of microalgae and cyanobacteria have been carried out considering their species specificity, morphological, physiological, cytological, biochemical, genetic and ecological peculiarities as producers of fats and high molecular polyunsaturated fatty acids in photo- and heterotrophic growth conditions as well as under the influence of 5-ALA and its esters (Project Manager: Dr. V. Goginyan)

Within the international research grants 

• The research grant from EU “Coimbra Group Scholarship Program for Young Researchers from the European Neighborhood” (2021) was dedicated to investigating the possibility of construction of 5-aminolevulinic acid recombinant producers using cyanobacteria Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 as host strain. The project was carried out with the advisory support of Prof. Elisabetta Bergantino, Associate Professor of the Research Unit of Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology of the Department of Biology, University of Padova, Italy (Executor: Dr. B. Harutyunyan).
• From 2016 to 2019, the Laboratory of Energy Alternative Sources as a part of the EU leading research institutions consortium has been involved in the HORIZON2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 “People for tHe eurOpean bio-ENergy mIX” - “PHOENIX” project implementation. Within the project together with the National Laboratory of Energy and Geology (Lisbon, Portugal) and the Department of Biochemical Engineering of the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology of the University of Zagreb (Zagreb, Croatia), joint research on search, studying, optimizing the production processes and rational use of biological renewable energy sources has been carried out (Project manager: Dr. V. Goginyan).
• The project funded by UK Rufford Foundation’s Grant “Exploration and identification of the new habitants for Papilionaceae endangered species in Armenia” (2016-17) was dedicated to exploring the areas of distribution of rare and endangered plants of Papillonaceae sub-family (Medicago astroites, Astragalus commixtus, A. holophyllus, Sphaerophysa salsula), as well as to discovering new locations with investigation of their ecology and habitat (Project manager: Dr. V. Hakobyan).

GRANT PROJECTS   

1. EU "Combira Group Scholarship Program for Young Researchers from the European Neighborhood" 2021 "Constraction of recombinant cyanobacterial strains for 5-aminolevulinic acid production" (Executor: Dr. B. Harutyunyan).
2. MESCS RA SC research project No. 19YR-1F051 “Brewery wastewater treatment by the use of unicellular green algae”, 2019-2021 (Project Manager:  Dr. A. Tsaturyan).
3. FEMS Young Scientist Meeting Grant for International Conference “Power of Microbes in Industry and Environment 2019”, Sv. Martin na Muri, Croatia, May 15-18, 2019 (Grantee: L. Saghatelyan, Junior Researcher, PhD student).
4. MESCS RA SC research project No. 18T-1F118 “Study of the systematics and taxonomic affiliation of purple photosynthetic bacteria”, 2018-2020 (Project Manager: Dr. V. Goginyan).
5. MESCS RA SC research project No. 16A-1f37 “The study of features of 5-aminolevulinic acid biosynthesis by photosynthetic bacteria”, 2018 (Executor: Dr. B. Harutyunyan).
6. HORIZON2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 “People for tHe eurOpean bio-ENergy mIX” – “PHOENIX”, Project Agreement No. 690925, 2016-2019 (Project Manager: Dr. V. Goginyan).
7. MESCS RA SC research project No. 16YR-2I029 “Study of secondary carotenogenesis peculiarities of green microalgae”, 2016-2018 (Project Manager: Dr. A. Tsaturyan).
8. MESCS RA SC research project No. 13РБ-043 “Ecological and biotechnological aspects of microalgae and cyanobacteria research as producers of the unsaturated fatty acids under the influence of 5-aminolevulinic acid esters”, 2014-2016 (Project Manager: Dr. V. Goginyan).
9. UK Rufford Foundation’s Grant  “Exploration and Identification of the New Habitants for Papilionaceae Endangered Species in Armenia", 2016-2017 (Project Manager: Dr. V. Hakobyan)
10. ISTC Project A-1957 "Isolation and characterization of probiotics selectivity growing on milk oligosaccharides", 2012-2014 (Project Manager: Dr. V. Goginyan)

KEY PUBLICATIONS

Scientific articles

1. Kalantaryan N.K., Harutyunyan B.A., Minasyan E.V. Tsaturyan A.H., Pavlecic M., Mardetko N., Goginyan V.B. Comparative assessment of brewery wastewater treatment potential by microalgae Parachlorella kessleri and Chlorella vulgaris // Biological Journal of Armenia, 2020, 72(4), 72-79.
2. Chapanyan E.N., Harutyunyan S.H., Sargsyan M.A. Quantitative dynamics of Azotobacter chroococcum in the brown forest soils after spraying with bacterial insecticide Bacillus thuringienisis // Biological Journal of Armenia, 2020, 72(3), 45-52 (in Armenian).
3. Ferreira A., Ribeiro B., Ferreira A.F., Tavares M.L.A, Vladic J., Vidovic S., Cvetkovic D., Melkonyan L., Avetisova G., Goginyan V., Gouveia L. Scenedesmus obliquus microalga-based biorefinery - from brewery effluent to bioactive compounds, biofuels and biofertilizers - aiming a circular bioeconomy // Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, 2019, pp. 13:1169-1186.
4. Kalantaryan N.K., Stepanyan L.A., Dadayan A.S., Minasyan E.V., Goginyan V.B. Comparative Characteristics of Green Microalgae Parachlorella kessleri and Chlorella vulgaris as a protein additive // Chemical Journal of Armenia, 2019, 72(3), pp. 249-255.
5. Minasyan E., Tsaturyan A., Kalantaryan N., Harutyunyan B. Determination of 5-aminolevulinic acid in liquid cultures of purple non-sulfur photosynthesizing bacteria by high performance liquid chromatography // Chemical Journal of Armenia, 2019, 72(3), pp. 243-248.
6. Goginyan V., Eusébio A., Neves A., Marques I.P., Harutyunyan B., Hovhannisyan R., Andreasyan N. Purple non-sulphur photosynthetic bacteria in brewery wastewater during anaerobic digestion // Proceedings of 5th International Conference “WASTES: Solutions, Treatments and Opportunities”, Guimarães, Portugal, 2019, pp. 87-89.
7. Kalantaryan N.K.  Molecular-genetic identification of unicellular green microalgae of the Chlorellaceae family // Biological Journal of Armenia, 2019, 71(3), 6-13 (in Russian).
8. Matevosyan F.S., Harutyunyan S.H., Stepanyan T.H., Hakobyan V.P. The possibility of using nodule bacteria stored on different substrates in order to improve the ecological balance of the soil // Proceedings of the 4th International Scientific and Practical Conference of Young Scientists and Speciatists "Ecological and biological problems of the use of natural resources in agriculture”, Yekaterinburg, 2019, 125-133.
9. Kalantaryan N.K. Characteristics of certain productive properties of green microalgae Parachlorella kessleri // Biological Journal of Armenia, 2018, 70(4). 90-96 (in Armenian).
10. Saghatelyan L.H., Sargsyan A R., Goginyan V.B. // Study of biosynthesis particularities of carotenoids by green microalgae / Biological Journal of Armenia, 2018, 70(2), 91-95 (in Armenian).
11. Harutyunyan B.A. // Determination of 5-aminolevulinic acid producers among cultures of purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria / Biological Journal of Armenia, 2018, 2(70), 6-13 (in Russian).
12. Harutyunyan B. Molecular-genetic verification of the taxonomic status of two strains of purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria based on the analysis of nucleotide sequences of 16S rRNA genes // Electronic Journal of Natural Sciences NAS RA, 2018, 2(31), pp. 61-64.
13. Mario Novak, Baghish Harutyunyan, Vigen Goginyan, Mladen Pavlečić, Predrag Horvat, Božidar Šantek Influence of initial malate concentration on 5-ALA synthesis during cultivation of Rhodobacter capsulatus B-6508 // Electronic Journal of Natural Sciences NAS RA, 2018, 2(31), pp. 3-7.
14. Baghish Harutyunyan, Mario Novak, Mladen Pavlečić, Vigen Goginyan, Ruzanna Hovhannesyan, Inna Melkumyan, Božidar Šantek Influence of glycine, succinate, levulinic acid and glutamate concentrations on the growth of purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria and 5-aminolevulinic acid production // International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology, 2018, 7(4), pp. 3839-3846.
15. Harutyunyan S.A., Stepanyan T.U., Matevosyan F.S., Akopyan V.P. Productivity of “Rhizօmix” biofertilizer for peas (Pisum sativum) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum) / Proceedings of the 4th International Scientific and Practical Conference of Young scientists and specialists “Ecological and biological problems of the use of natural resources in agriculture.” Yekaterinburg, 2018, 26-32.
16. Mario Novak, Mladen Pavlečić, Baghish Harutyunyan, Vigen Goginyan, Predrag Horvat, Božidar Šantek Characteristics and selection of cultures of photosynthetic purple non-sulfur bacteria as a potential 5-aminolevulinic acid producers // Croatian Journal of Food Technology, Biotechnology and Nutrition, 2017, 12 (3-4), pp. 113-119.
17. Stepanyan T.H., Harutyunyan S.H., Aleksanyan N. M., Matevosyan F. S., Hakobyan V.P.  The environmental prevalence of nodule bacteria in soils of Artsakh / International scientific and environmental conference dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the Kuban State Agrarian University: "Problems of the reclamation of household waste, industrial and agricultural production" // March 28-30, 2017, 55-61.
18. Mikhalchuk A.L., Rudak E.V., Kurman P.V., Babitskaya S.V., Kisel M.A., Kalantaryan N.K., Saghatelyan L.H., Goginyan V.B. // Synthesis of aliphatic esters of 5-aminolevulinic acids and their effect on the phototrophic microalgae growth / Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Chemical Series, 2016, 2, 64-68 (in Russian).
19. Kalantaryan N., Goginyan V., Saghatelyan L., Harutyunyan B. Composition of fatty acids synthesized by green microalgae Dunaliella salina Pa-018 // Electronic Journal of Natural Sciences NAS RA, 2016, 26(1), pp. 43-48.
20. Markosyan L.S., Oganesyan R.S., Melkumyan I.E., Mamyan S.S. Structural peculiarities of exopolysaccharides of phototrophic bacteria Rhodobacter sphaeroides // Bioengineering and Bioscience, 2014, 2(1), pp. 6-10.
21. Matevosyan F.S., Stepanyan T.H., Aleksanyan N.M.  Root sap as Exogenous factor for the adhesion of nodule bacteria // Biological Journal of Armenia, 2013, 65 (4). 30-34.
22. Kozyrovska N.O., Reva O.M., Goginyan V.B., de Vera J.-P. Kombucha microbiome as a probiotic: a view from the perspective of post-genomics and synthetic ecology // Biopolymers and Cell, 2012, 2(28), pp. 103-113.
23. Matevosyan F.S., Stepanyan T.H., Harutyunyan S.H., Alexanyan N.M. // On adhesion activity of nodule bacteria / The Reports of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, 2011, 3 (111), 289-295.
24. Stepanyan T., Harutyunian S., Aleksanyan N., Matevosyan F., Akopian J. // Use of nodule bacteria in association with free-living soil bacteria to inoculate nonlegume plants / Biological Journal of Armenia, 2010, 62(3) 86-90.

Abstracts Presented at Conferences

1. Saghatelyan L. Microalgae as a prospective source of carotenoids // Book of abstracts of International Conference “Power of microbes in industry and environment”, May 15-18, 2019, Sveti Martin na Muri, Croatia, p. 91.
2. Harutyunyan S.A., Stepanyan T.H., Matevosyan F.S., Hakobyan V.P. Characterization of the growth of salt-tolerant nodule bacteria from Armenia soils // International Conference / Book of abstracts. International conference “Microbes: Biology and Application”, Yerevan, Armenia, October 9-11, 2019, 25-26.
3. Martins P.L., Kalantaryan N.K., Dias C., Goginyan V.B., Duarte L., Pereira H., Reis A., Carvalheiro F. Chemical characterization of microalgae biomass grown in agro-food effluents: first approach on integrated fractionation strategies for biorefinery applications // Proceedings of the 4^th Iberoamerican Congress on Biorefineries, University of the Jaén, October 24-26, 2018, Spain, p. 935.
4. Kalantaryan N.K., Duarte L., Reis A., Goginyan V.B. The evaluation of the green microalgae Parachlorella kessleri as a feedstock for the biorefinery // Book of Abstracts of the 4^th International Scientific Conference of Young Researchers “Biotechnology: Science and Practice”, September 28-30, 2017, Yerevan, Armenia, pp. 39-40.
5. Harutyunyan B. Mutagenesis of purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria Rhodobacter capsulatus and Rhodobacter sphaeroides // Book of abstracts of the 4^th International Scientific Conference of Young Researchers “Biotechnology: Science and Practice”, September 28-30, 2017, Yerevan, Armenia, pp. 12-13.
6. Harutyunyan B. Determination of 5-aminolevulinic acid synthesized by purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacteria Rhodobacter capsulatus and Rhodobacter sphaeroides // Book of abstracts of the 4^th International Scientific Conference of Young Researchers “Biotechnology: Science and Practice”, September 28-30, 2017, Yerevan, Armenia, pp. 50-51.
7. Stepanyan T.H., Harutyunyan S.H., Aleksanyan N.M., Matevosyan F.S., Hakobyan V.P.  The distinctive feature of the prevalence of aboriginal strains of nodule bacteria in the soil of Artsakh // Book of abstracts. 4th International Scientific Conference of Young Researchers “Biotechnology: Science and Practice”, Yerevan, Armenia, September 28-30, 2017, 8.
8. Harutyunyan S.H., Stepanyan T.H., Matevosyan F.S., Alexanyan N.M., Hakobyan V.P. The influence of the nodule bacteria strains influence on the efficiency of selection sorts of soybean in Armenia // Book of abstracts. 4th International Scientific Conference of Young Researchers “Biotechnology: Science and Practice”, Yerevan, Armenia, September 28-30, 2017, 25-26.
9. Hakobyan V., Papikyan A., Poghosyan A.  Exploration and Identification of the New Habitants for Papilionaceae Endangered Species in Armenia // Book of abstracts. 4th International Scientific Conference of Young Researchers “Biotechnology: Science and Practice”, Yerevan, Armenia, September 28-30, 2017, 76-77.
10. Kalantaryan N.K., Goginyan V.B., Saghatelyan L.H. Features of polyunsaturated fatty acids synthesis by microalgae // Book of Abstracts of International Scientific Workshop “Trends in Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology”, October 5-8, 2014, Yerevan, p. 2.
11. Kalantaryan N.K., Saghatelyan L.H., Goginyan V.B., Kisel M.A. Comparative characteristics of microalgae growth affected by 5-aminolevulinic acid and its ethers // Book of Abstracts of the 3^rd International Scientific Conference of Young Researchers “Dialogues on Sciences”, June 23-26, 2015, Yerevan, p. 38.
12. Stepanyan T.H., Alexanyan N.M., Matevosyan F.S., Harutyunyan S.H., Hakobyan V.P.  Creation of cost-effective and ecologically sustainable agrobiophytocenoses using the legume-Rhizobium symbiosis // Book of Abstracts. 3rd International Scientific Conference of Young Researchers “Dialogues on Sciences”, Yerevan, Armenia, June 23-26, 2015, 94.

Theses defenses

1. Kalantaryan N.K. Study of biodiversity of microalgae and cyanobacteria, assessment of the biotechnological potential of Parachlorella kessleri microalga, 2020, 139 pp. (Supervisor: Dr. V. Goginyan).
2. Harutyunyan B.A. Study of biosynthesis of 5-aminolevulinic acid by photosynthetic bacteria, 2018, 126 pp. (Supervisor: Dr. V. Goginyan).

Patents

1. Balayan, A., Goginyan, V., Afrikian, E. // Method for cultivation of Jerusalem artichoke / Patent of the RA № A2296, 2009.
2. Akopian J., Stepanian T., Matevossian F., Alexanian N. // Le nitragin et la zeolite naturelle: nouveaux procedes de leur utilizarion dans l` agroculture / Brevet d`invention, N0603146, Republique Francaise, 2008.