We have performed the first comparative analysis of the potential of two physiologically-diverse model cyanobacteria, Synechococcus PCC 7002 (S.7002) and Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 (S.7942), for the photosynthetic production of four chemically-different high-value terpenes: two monoterpenes limonene and pinene, and two sesquiterpenes bisabolene and farnesene. We showed, for the first time, that S.7002 and S.7942 can produce farnesene and bisabolene, respectively. Both cyanobacteria produced farnesene (S.7942 produced more efficiently than S.7002) more efficiently than the other tested terpenes (especially pinene, the weakest produced terpene). S.7002 produced limonene more efficiently than bisabolene, whereas S.7942 produced bisabolene more efficiently than limonene. These findings suggest that S.7942 is better suited to produce sesquiterpenes than monoterpenes. Interestingly, higher levels of terpenes were produced by S.7942 and S.7002 expressing a terpene-synthase gene from both an RSF1010-derived replicating plasmid and a neutral chromosomal site, as compared to either the plasmid alone or the chromosome alone. These results suggest that in both cyanobacteria, the production of terpenes is more limited by the activity of terpene synthases than the abundance of terpene precursors. Finally, higher levels of terpenes were produced by S.7002 growing on urea (a frequent pollutant) as compared to nitrate or ammonium, the standard nitrogen sources for cyanobacteria.
Keywords: Cyanobacteria; bioproduction; bisabolene; farnesene; genetic engineering; limonene; nitrogen sources (ammonium, nitrate, urea); pinene.