Biocontainment of Engineered Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 for Photosynthetic Production of α-Farnesene from CO2

Synthetic Biology Strategies and Tools to Modulate Photosynthesis in Microbes

The utilization of photosynthetic microbes, such as cyanobacteria and microalgae, offers sustainable solutions to addressing global resource shortages and pollution. While these microorganisms have demonstrated significant potential in biomanufacturing, their industrial application is limited by suboptimal photosynthetic efficiency. Synthetic biology integrates molecular biology, systems biology, and engineering principles to provide a powerful tool for elucidating photosynthetic mechanisms and rationally optimizing photosynthetic platforms. This review summarizes recent advancements in regulating photosynthesis in cyanobacteria and microalgae via synthetic biology, focusing on strategies to enhance light energy absorption, optimize electron transport chains, and improve carbon assimilation. Furthermore, we discuss key challenges in translating these genetic modifications to large-scale bioproduction, highlighting specific bottlenecks in strain stability, metabolic burden, and process scalability. Finally, we propose potential solutions, such as AI-assisted metabolic engineering, synthetic microbial consortia, and next-generation photobioreactor designs, to overcome these limitations. Overall, while synthetic biology holds great promise for enhancing photosynthetic efficiency in cyanobacteria and microalgae, further research is needed to refine genetic strategies and develop scalable production systems.

High-level and -yield orotic acid production in Escherichia coli through systematic modular engineering and "Chaos to Order Cycles" fermentation

Orotic acid is widely used in healthcare and cosmetic industries. However, orotic acid-producing microorganisms are auxotrophic, which results in inefficient microbial production. Herein, a plasmid-free, uninduced, non-auxotrophic orotic acid hyperproducer was constructed from Escherichia coli W3110. Initially, the orotic acid degradation pathway was blocked and the carbamoyl phosphate supply was enriched. Subsequently, pyr operon from Bacillus subtilis F126 was heterologously expressed and precursors' supply was optimized. Thereafter, pyrE was dynamically regulated to reconstruct the non-auxotrophic pathway. Employing fed-batch cultivation, orotic acid titer, yield, and productivity of strain Ora21 reached 182.5 g/L, 0.58 g/g, and 3.80 g/L/h, respectively, the highest levels reported so far. Finally, a novel "Chaos to Order Cycles (COC)" fermentation was developed, which effectively increased the yield to 0.63 g/g. This research is a remarkable achievement in orotic acid production by microbial fermentation and has vast potential for industrial applications.

Impact of Carbon Fixation, Distribution and Storage on the Production of Farnesene and Limonene in Synechocystis PCC 6803 and Synechococcus PCC 7002

Terpenes are high-value chemicals which can be produced by engineered cyanobacteria from sustainable resources, solar energy, water and CO2. We previously reported that the euryhaline unicellular cyanobacteria Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (S.6803) and Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 (S.7002) produce farnesene and limonene, respectively, more efficiently than other terpenes. In the present study, we attempted to enhance farnesene production in S.6803 and limonene production in S.7002. Practically, we tested the influence of key cyanobacterial enzymes acting in carbon fixation (RubisCO, PRK, CcmK3 and CcmK4), utilization (CrtE, CrtR and CruF) and storage (PhaA and PhaB) on terpene production in S.6803, and we compared some of the findings with the data obtained in S.7002. We report that the overproduction of RubisCO from S.7002 and PRK from Cyanothece sp. PCC 7425 increased farnesene production in S.6803, but not limonene production in S.7002. The overexpression of the crtE genes (synthesis of terpene precursors) from S.6803 or S.7002 did not increase farnesene production in S.6803. In contrast, the overexpression of the crtE gene from S.6803, but not S.7002, increased farnesene production in S.7002, emphasizing the physiological difference between these two model cyanobacteria. Furthermore, the deletion of the crtR and cruF genes (carotenoid synthesis) and phaAB genes (carbon storage) did not increase the production of farnesene in S.6803. Finally, as a containment strategy of genetically modified strains of S.6803, we report that the deletion of the ccmK3K4 genes (carboxysome for CO2 fixation) did not affect the production of limonene, but decreased the production of farnesene in S.6803.

Photosynthetic production of α-farnesene by engineered Synechococcus elongatus UTEX 2973 from carbon dioxide

Cyanobacteria are the prospective biosolar cell factories to produce a range of bioproducts through CO2 sequestration. Farnesene is a sesquiterpene with an array of applications in biofuels, pest management, cosmetics, flavours and fragrances. This is the first time a codon-optimized farnesene synthase (AFS) gene is engineered into the genomic neutral site of Synechococcus elongatus UTEX 2973 for farnesene synthesis through its endogenous methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway, rendering UTEX AFS strain. Similarly, bottleneck gene(s) of the MEP pathway, 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase (dxs) and/or fusion of isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase and farnesyl diphosphate synthase (idispA) were engineered engendering UTEX AFS::dxs, UTEX AFS::idispA and UTEX AFS::dxs::idispA strains. UTEX AFS::dxs::idispA achieves farnesene productivity of 2.57 mg/L/day, the highest among engineered cyanobacterial strains studied so far. It demonstrates farnesene production, which is 31.3-times higher than the UTEX AFS strain. Moreover, the engineered strains show similar productivity over a three-month period, stipulating the genetic stability of the strains.

Phenotype-genotype mapping reveals the betaine-triggered L-arginine overproduction mechanism in Escherichia coli

The production phenotype improvement of industrial microbes is extremely needed and challenging. Environmental factors optimization provides insightful ideas to trigger the superior production phenotype by activating potential genetic determiners. Here, phenotype-genotype mapping was used to dissect the betaine-triggered L-arginine overproduction mechanism and mine beneficial genes for further improving production phenotype. The comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed a novel role for betaine in modulating global gene transcription. Guided by this finding, 4 novel genes (cynX, cynT, pyrB, and rhaB) for L-arginine biosynthesis were identified via reverse engineering. Moreover, the rhaB deletion was demonstrated as a common metabolic engineering strategy to improve ATP pool in E. coli. By combinatorial genes manipulation, the L-arginine titer and yield increased by 17.9% and 28.9% in a 5-L bioreactor without betaine addition. This study revealed the molecular mechanism of gene transcription regulation by betaine and developed a superior L-arginine overproducer that does not require betaine.

Exploring the Potential of the Model Cyanobacteria Synechococcus PCC 7002 and PCC 7942 for the Photoproduction of High-Value Terpenes: A Comparison with Synechocystis PCC 6803

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.

Cofactor Engineering for Efficient Production of α-Farnesene by Rational Modification of NADPH and ATP Regeneration Pathway in Pichia pastoris

α-Farnesene, an acyclic volatile sesquiterpene, plays important roles in aircraft fuel, food flavoring, agriculture, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Here, by re-creating the NADPH and ATP biosynthetic pathways in Pichia pastoris, we increased the production of α-farnesene. First, the native oxiPPP was recreated by overexpressing its essential enzymes or by inactivating glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (PGI). This revealed that the combined over-expression of ZWF1 and SOL3 increases α-farnesene production by improving NADPH supply, whereas inactivating PGI did not do so because it caused a reduction in cell growth. The next step was to introduce heterologous cPOS5 at various expression levels into P. pastoris. It was discovered that a low intensity expression of cPOS5 aided in the production of α-farnesene. Finally, ATP was increased by the overexpression of APRT and inactivation of GPD1. The resultant strain P. pastoris X33-38 produced 3.09 ± 0.37 g/L of α-farnesene in shake flask fermentation, which was 41.7% higher than that of the parent strain. These findings open a new avenue for the development of an industrial-strength α-farnesene producer by rationally modifying the NADPH and ATP regeneration pathways in P. pastoris.

Carbon-negative synthetic biology: challenges and emerging trends of cyanobacterial technology

Global warming and climate instability have spurred interest in using renewable carbon resources for the sustainable production of chemicals. Cyanobacteria are ideal cellular factories for carbon-negative production of chemicals owing to their great potentials for directly utilizing light and CO₂ as sole energy and carbon sources, respectively. However, several challenges in adapting cyanobacterial technology to industry, such as low productivity, poor tolerance, and product harvesting difficulty, remain. Synthetic biology may finally address these challenges. Here, we summarize recent advances in the production of value-added chemicals using cyanobacterial cell factories, particularly in carbon-negative synthetic biology and emerging trends in cyanobacterial applications. We also propose several perspectives on the future development of cyanobacterial technology for commercialization.

Exploring the potential of the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803 for the photosynthetic production of various high-value terpenes

Background

The robust model cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803 is increasingly explored for its potential to use solar energy, water and atmospheric CO₂ for the carbon-neutral production of terpenes, the high-value chemicals that can be used for the production of drugs, flavors, fragrances and biofuels. However, as terpenes are chemically diverse, it is extremely difficult to predict whether Synechocystis is a suitable chassis for the photosynthetic production of various terpenes or only a few of them.

Results

We have performed the first-time engineering and comparative analysis of the best-studied cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803 for the photosynthetic production of five chemically diverse high-value terpenes: two monoterpenes (C₁₀H₁₆) limonene (cyclic molecule) and pinene (bicyclic), and three sesquiterpenes (C₁₅H₂₄) bisabolene (cyclic), farnesene (linear) and santalene (cyclic). All terpene producers appeared to grow well and to be genetically stable, as shown by the absence of changes in their production levels during the 5–9-month periods of their sub-cultivation under photoautotrophic conditions). We also found that Synechocystis PCC 6803 can efficiently and stably produce farnesene and santalene, which had never been produced before by this model organism or any other cyanobacteria, respectively. Similar production levels were observed for cells growing on nitrate (the standard nitrogen source for cyanobacteria) or urea (cheaper than nitrate). Furthermore, higher levels of farnesene were produced by cloning the heterologous farnesene synthase gene in a RSF1010-derived replicating plasmid as compared to the well-used slr0168 neutral cloning site of the chromosome.

Conclusions

 Altogether, the present results indicate that Synechocystis PCC 6803 is better suited to produce sesquiterpenes (particularly farnesene, the most highly produced terpene of this study) than monoterpenes (especially pinene).

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13068-022-02211-0.

Engineering plant family TPS into cyanobacterial host for terpenoids production

Terpenoids are synthesized naturally by plants as secondary metabolites, and are diverse and complex in structure with multiple applications in bioenergy, food, cosmetics, and medicine. This makes the production of terpenoids such as isoprene, β-phellandrene, farnesene, amorphadiene, and squalene valuable, owing to which their industrial demand cannot be fulfilled exclusively by plant sources. They are synthesized via the Methylerythritol phosphate pathway (MEP) and the Mevalonate pathway (MVA), both existing in plants. The advent of genetic engineering and the latest accomplishments in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering allow microbial synthesis of terpenoids. Cyanobacteria manifest to be the promising hosts for this, utilizing sunlight and CO2. Cyanobacteria possess MEP pathway to generate precursors for terpenoid synthesis. The terpenoid synthesis can be amplified by overexpressing the MEP pathway and engineering MVA pathway genes. According to the desired terpenoid, terpene synthases unique to the plant kingdom must be incorporated in cyanobacteria. Engineering an organism to be used as a cell factory comes with drawbacks such as hampered cell growth and disturbance in metabolic flux. This review set forth a comparison between MEP and MVA pathways, strategies to overexpress these pathways with their challenges.

Engineering phototrophic bacteria for the production of terpenoids

With more than 80 000 compounds, terpenoids represent one of the largest classes of secondary metabolites naturally produced by various plants and other organisms. Owing to the tremendous structural diversity, they offer a wide range of properties relevant for biotechnological and pharmaceutical applications. In this context, heterologous terpenoid production in engineered microbial hosts represents an often cost-effective and eco-friendly way to make these valuable compounds industrially available. This review provides an overview of current strategies to employ and engineer oxygenic and anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria as alternative cell factories for sustainable terpenoid production. Besides terpenoid pathway engineering, the effects of different illumination strategies on terpenoid photoproduction are key elements in the latest studies.

Space bioprocess engineering on the horizon

Space bioprocess engineering (SBE) is an emerging multi-disciplinary field to design, realize, and manage biologically-driven technologies specifically with the goal of supporting life on long term space missions. SBE considers synthetic biology and bioprocess engineering under the extreme constraints of the conditions of space. A coherent strategy for the long term development of this field is lacking. In this Perspective, we describe the need for an expanded mandate to explore biotechnological needs of the future missions. We then identify several key parameters—metrics, deployment, and training—which together form a pathway towards the successful development and implementation of SBE technologies of the future.

Space bioprocess engineering integrates synthetic biology and bioprocess engineering with the specific goal to support human life in long term space missions. In this Perspective, Berliner and colleagues describe a pathway towards the development and implementation of space bioprocessing technologies of the future.

Biocontainment of Genetically Engineered Algae

Algae (including eukaryotic microalgae and cyanobacteria) have been genetically engineered to convert light and carbon dioxide to many industrially and commercially relevant chemicals including biofuels, materials, and nutritional products. At industrial scale, genetically engineered algae may be cultivated outdoors in open ponds or in closed photobioreactors. In either case, industry would need to address a potential risk of the release of the engineered algae into the natural environment, resulting in potential negative impacts to the environment. Genetic biocontainment strategies are therefore under development to reduce the probability that these engineered bacteria can survive outside of the laboratory or industrial setting. These include active strategies that aim to kill the escaped cells by expression of toxic proteins, and passive strategies that use knockouts of native genes to reduce fitness outside of the controlled environment of labs and industrial cultivation systems. Several biocontainment strategies have demonstrated escape frequencies below detection limits. However, they have typically done so in carefully controlled experiments which may fail to capture mechanisms of escape that may arise in the more complex natural environment. The selection of biocontainment strategies that can effectively kill cells outside the lab, while maintaining maximum productivity inside the lab and without the need for relatively expensive chemicals will benefit from further attention.

Microbial Biocontainment Systems for Clinical, Agricultural, and Industrial Applications

Many applications of synthetic biology require biological systems in engineered microbes to be delivered into diverse environments, such as for in situ bioremediation, biosensing, and applications in medicine and agriculture. To avoid harming the target system (whether that is a farm field or the human gut), such applications require microbial biocontainment systems (MBSs) that inhibit the proliferation of engineered microbes. In the past decade, diverse molecular strategies have been implemented to develop MBSs that tightly control the proliferation of engineered microbes; this has enabled medical, industrial, and agricultural applications in which biological processes can be executed in situ. The customization of MBSs also facilitate the integration of sensing modules for which different compounds can be produced and delivered upon changes in environmental conditions. These achievements have accelerated the generation of novel microbial systems capable of responding to external stimuli with limited interference from the environment. In this review, we provide an overview of the current approaches used for MBSs, with a specific focus on applications that have an immediate impact on multiple fields.

Recent Advances in the Biosynthesis of Farnesene Using Metabolic Engineering

Farnesene, as an important sesquiterpene isoprenoid polymer of acetyl-CoA, is a renewable feedstock for diesel fuel, polymers, and cosmetics. It has been widely applied in agriculture, medicine, energy, and other fields. In recent years, farnesene biosynthesis is considered a green and economical approach because of its mild reaction conditions, low environmental pollution, and sustainability. Metabolic engineering has been widely applied to construct cell factories for farnesene biosynthesis. In this paper, the research progress, common problems, and strategies of farnesene biosynthesis are reviewed. They are mainly described from the perspectives of the current status of farnesene biosynthesis in different host cells, optimization of the metabolic pathway for farnesene biosynthesis, and key enzymes for farnesene biosynthesis. Furthermore, the challenges and prospects for future farnesene biosynthesis are discussed.

Approaches in the photosynthetic production of sustainable fuels by cyanobacteria using tools of synthetic biology

Cyanobacteria, photosynthetic prokaryotic microorganisms having a simple genetic composition are the prospective photoautotrophic cell factories for the production of a wide range of biofuel molecules. The simple genetic composition of cyanobacteria allows effortless genetic manipulation which leads to increased research endeavors from the synthetic biology approach. Various unicellular model cyanobacterial strains like Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 have been successfully engineered for biofuels generation. Improved development of synthetic biology tools, genetic modification methods and advancement in transformation techniques to construct a strain that can contain multiple foreign genes in a single operon have vastly expanded the functions that can be used for engineering photosynthetic cyanobacteria for the generation of various biofuel molecules. In this review, recent advancements and approaches in synthetic biology tools used for cyanobacterial genome editing have been discussed. Apart from this, cyanobacterial productions of various fuel molecules like isoprene, limonene, α-farnesene, squalene, alkanes, butanol, and fatty acids, which can be a substitute for petroleum and fossil fuels in the future, have been elaborated.

Transporter engineering for the development of cyanobacteria as cell factories: A text analytics guided survey

Cyanobacteria are attractive candidates for photoautotrophic production of platform chemicals due to their inherent ability to utilize carbon dioxide as the sole carbon source. Metabolic pathways can be engineered more readily in cyanobacteria compared to higher photosynthetic organisms. Although significant progress has been made in pathway engineering, intracellular accumulation of the product is a potential bottleneck in large-scale production. Likewise, substrate uptake is known to limit growth and product formation. These limitations can potentially be addressed by targeted and controlled expression of transporter proteins in the metabolically engineered strains. This review focuses on the transporters that have been explored in cyanobacteria. To highlight the progress on characterization and application of cyanobacterial transporters, we applied text analytics to extract relevant information from over 1000 publications. We have categorized the transporters based on their source, their function and the solute they transport. Further, the review provides insights into the potential of transporters in the metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria for improved product titer.