Chlorella sorokiniana is a species of freshwater green microalga in the Division Chlorophyta.[2] It has a characteristic emerald-green color and pleasant grass odor. Its cells divide rapidly to produce four new cells every 17 to 24 hours. The alga was described by Martinus W. Beijerinck in 1890.[3] In 1951, the Rockefeller Foundation in collaboration with the Japanese Government and Hiroshi Tamiya developed the technology to grow, harvest and process Chlorella sorokiniana on a large, economically feasible scale. This microalga has also been used extensively as a model system to study enzymes involved in higher plant metabolism.[4]
Also, Chlorella sorokiniana is used to research ways to improve biofuel efficiency.[5][6]
