The efficient exchange of gases between roots and their environment is one of the biggest challenges in bioreactor design for transformed root cultures. Gas-phase reactors can alleviate this problem as well as provide a new tool for studying the biological response of roots and other differentiated tissues to changes in the gas phase composition. In our comparison of liquid-and gas-phase reactors, roots grown in liquid (shake flasks or bubble column reactors) are shown to be under hypoxic stress. Roots grown in a gas-phase reactor (nutrient mist), while not hypoxic, produced 50% less biomass. These results suggest that the response of the tissues to gas phase composition are complex and need further study.

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Sporopollenin exine capsules (SECs) are highly resistant to heat and various acids and bases. They are also cheap, highly porous, eco-friendly polymer biomaterials with stable microencapsulation capacity. Due to their strong and uniquely shaped exine layers, they can allow growth on metal oxide materials, as a biotemplate for use in different applications. In this study, first, a single SEC extraction method was applied to three different pollens from Pinus , Fraxinus excelsior , and Tilia . Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, and thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis (TGA/DTA) measurements both before and after the extraction process were performed to observe changes in surface area, morphology, porous structure, and degradation properties. The protein content and removal were analyzed by elemental and spectrophotometric analyses. Then, SECs were loaded by passive and centrifuge loading for drug delivery, and the loading capacities were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and spectrophotometry. The method was successful in opening the pores and maintaining the structural integrity of SECs. It was determined that the morphology and porosity affected the encapsulation efficiency. According to the loading capacities, Tilia SECs were the most efficient SECs for both loading methods. In addition, three different SECs were hydrothermally coated with cobalt and then heat-treated to obtain a metal oxide structure. A CO 3 O 4 supercapacitor electrode constructed using CO 3 O 4 - F. excelsior SEC powder had the best surface area parameters. The electrode showed a maximum specific capacity of 473 F/g for over 3000 continuous cycles of galvanostatic charge–discharge (GCD).