几十年以来，绿藻一直被用于商业生产，包括生产人类消费的健康食品，动物饲料和水产饵料，着色剂、化妆品及其它制剂等。如今，我们使用的一些绿藻产品包括从微藻生物质中提取的次生代谢物，其中最广为人知的是虾青素及β-胡萝卜素这2种类胡罗卜素，它们已经被用于着色剂及健康制剂。许多绿藻产生的高价值代谢产物具有不同的用途，例如用来生产抗氧化剂、类胡罗卜素、多元不饱和脂肪酸、维生素及抗癌抗菌药物。许多研究显示，当藻类处于营养缺乏、光照、温度、盐度及pH胁迫时会产生上述的次生代谢物；少数研究表明当微藻处于最适生长条件下时也可以检测到这些次生代谢物。但是，我们还不清楚如何优化培养条件从而提高每种次生代谢物的产量以及不同胁迫条件下对微藻次生代谢物的影响。一些绿藻在硫胁迫时具有显著的产氢能力，这是当前世界藻类学研究的热点之一，而且这些研究已集中在模式生物衣藻上，但是其它绿藻也具有产氢能力。目前，有关微藻同步产氢及其它次生代谢物的研究很少。本研究的目的是对比诱导微藻生产次生代谢物及产氢的胁迫条件；列举具有生产高价值次生代谢物，还能在厌氧缺硫条件下产氢的野生绿藻的种类；同时文章还综述了目前已商业化生产的微藻种类。通过分析这些信息为筛选微藻，实现利用微藻产氢及产次生代谢物相结合提供基础。

Green microalgae for several decades have been produced for commercial exploitation, with applications ranging from health food for human consumption, aquaculture and animal feed, to coloring agents, cosmetics and others. Several products from green algae which are used today consist of secondary metabolites that can be extracted from the algal biomass. The best known examples are the carotenoids astaxanthin and β-carotene, which are used as coloring agents and for health-promoting purposes. Many species of green algae are able to produce valuable metabolites for different uses; examples are antioxidants, several different carotenoids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, anticancer and antiviral drugs. In many cases, these substances are secondary metabolites that are produced when the algae are exposed to stress conditions linked to nutrient deprivation, light intensity, temperature, salinity and pH. In other cases, the metabolites have been detected in algae grown under optimal conditions, and little is known about optimization of the production of each product, or the effects of stress conditions on their production. Some green algae have shown the ability to produce significant amounts of hydrogen gas during sulfur deprivation, a process which is currently studied extensively worldwide. At the moment, the majority of research in this field has focused on the model organism, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, but other species of green algae also have this ability. Currently there is little information available regarding the possibility for producing hydrogen and other valuable metabolites in the same process. This study aims to explore which stress conditions are known to induce the production of different valuable products in comparison to stress reactions leading to hydrogen production. Wild type species of green microalgae with known ability to produce high amounts of certain valuable metabolites are listed and linked to species with ability to produce hydrogen during general anaerobic conditions, and during sulfur deprivation. Species used today for commercial purposes are also described. This information is analyzed in order to form a basis for selection of wild type species for a future multi-step process, where hydrogen production from solar energy is combined with the production of valuable metabolites and other commercial uses of the algal biomass.

（Skjånes K, Rebours C, Lindblad P Potential for green microalgae to produce hydrogen, pharmaceuticals and other high value products in a combined process. Crit Rev Biotechnol. 2013, 33(2):172-215.）