Cyanobacteria as cell factories: the roles of host and pathway engineering and translational research

[Display omitted] •Host organisms need to tolerate outdoor conditions and abiotic stresses.•Robust, fast-growing cyanobacterial strains can be engineered as efficient hosts.•Engineered and well-characterized host strains should be made easily accessible.•Synthetic biology protocols and parts need to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current opinion in biotechnology 2022-02, Vol.73, p.314-322
Main Authors: Jaiswal, Damini, Sahasrabuddhe, Deepti, Wangikar, Pramod P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cyanobacteria - genetics
Cyanobacteria - metabolism
Metabolic Engineering
Photosynthesis
Synthetic Biology
Translational Research, Biomedical
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Summary:[Display omitted] •Host organisms need to tolerate outdoor conditions and abiotic stresses.•Robust, fast-growing cyanobacterial strains can be engineered as efficient hosts.•Engineered and well-characterized host strains should be made easily accessible.•Synthetic biology protocols and parts need to be standardized for non-model strains.•Metabolomics assisted and model-guided pathway engineering is an emerging field. Cyanobacteria, a group of photoautotrophic prokaryotes, are attractive hosts for the sustainable production of chemicals from carbon dioxide and sunlight. However, the rates, yields, and titers have remained well below those needed for commercial deployment. We argue that the following areas will be central to the development of cyanobacterial cell factories: engineered and well-characterized host strains, model-guided pathway design, and advanced synthetic biology tools. Although several foundational studies report improved strain properties, translational research will be needed to develop engineered hosts and deploy them for metabolic engineering. Further, the recent developments in metabolic modeling and synthetic biology of cyanobacteria will enable nimble strategies for strain improvement with the complete cycle of design, build, test, and learn.
ISSN:0958-1669
1879-0429
DOI:10.1016/j.copbio.2021.09.010