Cyanobacteria as whole-cell factories: current status and future prospectives

Jörg Toepel; Rohan Karande; Stephan Klähn; Bruno Bühler

doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2023.102892

Cyanobacteria as whole-cell factories: current status and future prospectives

Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2023 Apr:80:102892. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2023.102892. Epub 2023 Jan 18.

Authors

Jörg Toepel¹, Rohan Karande², Stephan Klähn³, Bruno Bühler⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
² Research and Transfer Center for bioactive Matter b-ACTmatter, University of Leipzig, Germany.
³ Department of Solar Materials, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
⁴ Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: bruno.buehler@ufz.de.

PMID: 36669448
DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2023.102892

Abstract

Cyanobacteria as phototrophic microorganisms bear great potential to produce chemicals from sustainable resources such as light and CO₂. Most studies focus on either strain engineering or tackling metabolic constraints. Recently gained knowledge on internal electron and carbon fluxes and their regulation provides new opportunities to efficiently channel cellular resources toward product formation. Concomitantly, novel photobioreactor concepts are developed to ensure sufficient light supply. This review summarizes the newest developments in the field of cyanobacterial engineering to finally establish photosynthesis-based production processes. A holistic approach tackling genetic, metabolic, and biochemical engineering in parallel is considered essential to turn their application into an ecoefficient and economically feasible option for a future green bioeconomy.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Carbon Cycle
Cyanobacteria* / genetics
Cyanobacteria* / metabolism
Metabolic Engineering
Photosynthesis* / genetics