Multiple routes toward engineering efficient cyanobacterial photosynthetic biomanufacturing technologies

Abstract

Developing efficient CO2 utilization technologies can alleviate the urgent pressure on energy and the environment. Moreover, these technologies are crucial for achieving the goal of net zero emissions. Microalgae are photoautotrophic microorganisms that are the main sources of primary productivity in the biosphere. Cyanobacteria, the only prokaryotic microalgae, have also been considered as promising chassis for photosynthetic biosynthesis, directly converting solar energy and CO2 into various bio-based products. This technological route is called photosynthetic biomanufacturing, and is advantageous to simultaneous carbon fixation and clean production. This review focuses on development models, application and suggests trends related to the further development of photosynthetic biomanufacturing. With regard to the link between photosynthetic CO2 fixation and the production of desired metabolites, we summarized and compared three widely adopted strategies. “Screening to find”, screening a large number of high-quality cyanobacterial resources and analyzing their intracellular metabolites are of significance for screening novel cyanobacterial species with high-value chemicals and properties of industrial relevance. “Engineering to modify”, the emergence and application of synthetic biological tools and metabolic engineering strategies have enhanced the ability to modify different cyanobacterial species to reshape more carbon to flow toward synthetic tailored chemicals. “Stressing to activate”, through special culture conditions and strategies, combined with omics analysis techniques, silent metabolic pathways and functional modules are activated to induce the accumulation of high-value chemicals. This review provides valid and updated information to facilitate the development of photosynthetic biosynthesis route with carbon fixation and clean production, providing specific feasible solutions for net zero emissions.