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Webster LJ, Villa-Gomez D, Brown R, Clarke W, Schenk PM. A synthetic biology approach for the treatment of pollutants with microalgae. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2024; 12:1379301. [PMID: 38646010 PMCID: PMC11032018 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2024.1379301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/23/2024] Open
Abstract
The increase in global population and industrial development has led to a significant release of organic and inorganic pollutants into water streams, threatening human health and ecosystems. Microalgae, encompassing eukaryotic protists and prokaryotic cyanobacteria, have emerged as a sustainable and cost-effective solution for removing these pollutants and mitigating carbon emissions. Various microalgae species, such as C. vulgaris, P. tricornutum, N. oceanica, A. platensis, and C. reinhardtii, have demonstrated their ability to eliminate heavy metals, salinity, plastics, and pesticides. Synthetic biology holds the potential to enhance microalgae-based technologies by broadening the scope of treatment targets and improving pollutant removal rates. This review provides an overview of the recent advances in the synthetic biology of microalgae, focusing on genetic engineering tools to facilitate the removal of inorganic (heavy metals and salinity) and organic (pesticides and plastics) compounds. The development of these tools is crucial for enhancing pollutant removal mechanisms through gene expression manipulation, DNA introduction into cells, and the generation of mutants with altered phenotypes. Additionally, the review discusses the principles of synthetic biology tools, emphasizing the significance of genetic engineering in targeting specific metabolic pathways and creating phenotypic changes. It also explores the use of precise engineering tools, such as CRISPR/Cas9 and TALENs, to adapt genetic engineering to various microalgae species. The review concludes that there is much potential for synthetic biology based approaches for pollutant removal using microalgae, but there is a need for expansion of the tools involved, including the development of universal cloning toolkits for the efficient and rapid assembly of mutants and transgenic expression strains, and the need for adaptation of genetic engineering tools to a wider range of microalgae species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke J. Webster
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Denys Villa-Gomez
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Reuben Brown
- Algae Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - William Clarke
- School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Peer M. Schenk
- Algae Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Algae Biotechnology, Sustainable Solutions Hub, Global Sustainable Solutions Pty Ltd, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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Alvarez‐Guzmán CL, Muñoz‐Páez KM, Valdez‐Vazquez I. Effect of electron donors on CO 2 fixation from a model cement industry flue gas by non-photosynthetic microbial communities in batch and continuous reactors. Microb Biotechnol 2023; 16:2387-2400. [PMID: 37837250 PMCID: PMC10686125 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Revised: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of different inorganic compounds as electron donors for the capture of CO2 from a model cement flue gas CO2 /O2 /N2 (4.2:13.5:82.3% v/v) using a non-photosynthetic microbial community. The inoculum obtained from a H2 -producing reactor was acclimated to CO2 consumption achieving 100% of CO2 removal after 45 days. Na2 S, MnCl2 , NaNO2 , NH4 Cl, Na2 S2 O3 , and FeCl2 were used as energy source for CO2 fixation by the acclimated microbial community showing different efficiencies, being Na2 S the best electron donor evaluated (100% of CO2 consumption) and FeCl2 the less effective (28% of CO2 consumption). In all treatments, acetate and propionate were the main endpoint metabolites. Moreover, scaling the process to a continuous laboratory biotrickling filter using Na2 S as energy source showed a CO2 consumption of up to 77%. Analysis of the microbial community showed that Na2 S and FeCl2 exerted a strong selection on the microbial members in the community showing significant differences (PERMANOVA, p = 0.0001) compared to the control and the other treatments. Results suggest that the CO2 fixing pathways used by the microbial community in all treatments were the 3-hydroxypropionate-4-hydroxybutyrate cycle and the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Lizeth Alvarez‐Guzmán
- Instituto de Ingeniería, Unidad Académica JuriquillaUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoSantiago de QueréteroMexico
| | - Karla María Muñoz‐Páez
- CONAHCYT‐Instituto de Ingeniería, Unidad Académica JuriquillaUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoSantiago de QueréteroMexico
| | - Idania Valdez‐Vazquez
- Instituto de Ingeniería, Unidad Académica JuriquillaUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoSantiago de QueréteroMexico
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Xu C, Feng Y, Li H, Jiang S, Ma R, Yao Y, Liu M, Yang Y, Xue Z. Non-photosynthetic chemoautotrophic CO 2 assimilation microorganisms carbon fixation efficiency and control factors in deep-sea hydrothermal vent. Sci Total Environ 2023; 862:160805. [PMID: 36502982 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2022] [Revised: 12/04/2022] [Accepted: 12/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Non-photosynthetic chemoautotrophic microorganisms in deep-sea hydrothermal vent can obtain energy by oxidation reducing substances and synthesize CO2 into organic carbon, and the development and utilization of microbial resources in this environment for CO2 fixation under ordinary environmental conditions is of great significance to understand the carbon cycle and microbial carbon fixation in deep-sea hydrothermal vent. In this study, a set of spiral-stirred bioreactor (SSB) was developed to cultivate a group of non-photosynthetic chemoautotrophic CO2 assimilation microorganisms (NPCAM), mainly Sphingomonadaceae (unclassified, the mean of which was 31.16 %), from deep-sea hydrothermal vent sediments, which have the characteristics of halophilic, acid-base and heavy metal resistant. The maximum carbon fixation efficiency (calculated by CO2) was 6.209 mg·CO2/(L·h) after 96 h of incubation in the presence of mixed electron donors (MEDs, 0.46 % NaNO2, 0.50 % Na2S2O3 and 1.25 % Na2S, w/v), mixed inorganic carbon sources (CO2, Na2CO3 and NaHCO3) and aerobic conditions. The detection of NPCAM synthetic organic fraction in SSB system, the study of single bacteria culturability and carbon fixation efficiency, the analysis of CO2 fixation pathway and the development of coupled carbon fixation technology are the prospective works that need to be further developed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenglong Xu
- School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China; State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yali Feng
- School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
| | - Haoran Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| | - Shiwei Jiang
- School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Ruiyu Ma
- School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China; State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Yisong Yao
- School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Mengyao Liu
- School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Yi Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Zhonghua Xue
- School of Civil and Resource Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
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Han Y, Wang Q, Li Q, Hu C. Active metabolism and biomass dynamics of biocrusts are shaped by variation in their successional state and seasonal energy sources. Sci Total Environ 2022; 831:154756. [PMID: 35339556 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Revised: 03/17/2022] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Seasonal growth and changes in biomass within communities are the core of ecosystem dynamics. Biocrusts play a prominent role as pioneers in dryland soils. However, the seasonal dynamics of biocrusts remain poorly resolved. In this study, we collected biocrusts across a successional gradient (cyanobacteria, cyanolichen, chlorolichen, and moss-dominated) from southeastern Tengger Desert (China) during the summer and autumn seasons, and explored seasonal changes in metabolism and biomass using multi-omics approaches. We found that Cyanobacteria and Ascomycota were the dominant active taxa and both exhibited higher abundances in autumn. We also found that the dominant primary producers in biocrusts strongly affected community-wide characteristics of metabolism. Along with seasonal differences in light energy utilization, utilization of inorganic energy sources exhibited higher expression in the summer while for organic sources, in the autumn. We found that overall metabolism was significantly regulated by the ratio of intracellular to extracellular polymer degradation, and affected by NO3-, PO43- and EC (in the summer)/NO2- (in the autumn). In summary, biocrust growth varied with seasonal variation in light energy utilization and complementary chemical energy sources, with the most suitable season varying with biocrust successional type.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingchun Han
- Key Laboratory of Algal Biology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Qiong Wang
- Key Laboratory of Algal Biology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Qi Li
- Key Laboratory of Algal Biology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Chunxiang Hu
- Key Laboratory of Algal Biology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China.
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Ye J, An N, Chen H, Ying Z, Zhang S, Zhao J. Performance and mechanism of carbon dioxide fixation by a newly isolated chemoautotrophic strain Paracoccus denitrificans PJ-1. Chemosphere 2020; 252:126473. [PMID: 32229363 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2019] [Revised: 02/15/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
CO2 is regarded as a major contributor to the global warming. CO2 utilization is promising to reduce the CO2 emissions. Currently, the biofixation of CO2 using chemoautotrophs has markedly gain interest in CO2 utilization. In this study, a newly isolated chemoautotroph, Paracoccus denitrificans PJ-1, was used for the biofixation of CO2 under anaerobic condition. Experimental results revealed that Paracoccus denitrificans PJ-1 achieved a high carbon fixation rate (13.25 mg·L-1·h-1) which was ∼10 times faster than the previous reported chemotrophic bacteria using thiosulfate as electron donor. The best CO2 fixation activity of Paracoccus denitrificans PJ-1 was achieved at the pH value of 9.0 and CO2 concentration of 20 vol%. Meanwhile, a high CO2 fixation yield of 106.03 mg·L-1 was reached. The presence of oxygen was adverse to the biofixation, indicating that strain PJ-1 was more suitable for CO2 fixation in anaerobic environments. Carbon mass balance analysis revealed that the carbon from CO2 was mainly fixed into the extracellular organic carbon rather than the biomass. GC-MS analysis and cbbL gene test revealed that Paracoccus denitrificans PJ-1 fixed CO2 through the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle and mainly converted CO2 to oxalic acid and succinic acid. Overall, the excellent CO2 fixation capacity of Paracoccus denitrificans PJ-1 suggests that it had potential for CO2 utilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiexu Ye
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang, Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310032, China
| | - Ni An
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang, Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310032, China
| | - Han Chen
- Zhejiang University of Water Resource and Electric Power, Hangzhou, 310018, China
| | - Zanyun Ying
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang, Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310032, China
| | - Shihan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang, Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310032, China.
| | - Jingkai Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology for Industrial Pollution Control of Zhejiang, Province, College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310032, China
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Chen F, Jin W, Gao H, Guo Z, Lin H, Li J, Hu K, Guan X, Kalia VC, Lee JK, Zhang L, Li Y. Cloning, Expression and Characterization of Two Beta Carbonic Anhydrases from a Newly Isolated CO 2 Fixer, Serratia marcescens Wy064. Indian J Microbiol 2019; 59:64-72. [PMID: 30728632 DOI: 10.1007/s12088-018-0773-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2018] [Accepted: 12/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial strains from karst landform soil were enriched via chemostat culture in the presence of sodium bicarbonate. Two chemolithotrophic strains were isolated and identified as Serratia marcescens Wy064 and Bacillus sp. Wy065. Both strains could grow using sodium bicarbonate as the sole carbon source. Furthermore, the supplement of the medium with three electron donors (Na2S, NaNO2, and Na2S2O3) improved the growth of both strains. The activities of carbonic anhydrase (CA) and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) could be detected in the crude enzyme of strain Wy064, implying that the strain Wy064 might employ Calvin cycle to fix CO2. S. marcescens genome mining revealed four potential CA genes designated CA1-CA4. The proteins encoded by genes CA1-3 were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified recombinant enzymes of CA1 and CA3 exhibited CO2 hydration activities, whereas enzyme CA2 was expressed in inclusion bodies. A CO2 hydration assay demonstrated that the specific activity of CA3 was significantly higher than that of CA1. The maximum CO2 hydration activities for CA1 and CA3 were observed at pH 7.5 and 40 °C. The activities of CA1 and CA3 were significantly enhanced by several metal ions, especially Zn2+, which resulted in 21.1-fold and 26.1-fold increases of CO2 hydration activities, respectively. The apparent K m and V max for CO2 as substrate were 27 mM and 179 WAU/mg for CA1, and 14 mM and 247 WAU/mg for CA3, respectively. Structure modeling combined with sequence analysis indicated that CA1 and CA3 should belong to the Type II β-CA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fanbing Chen
- 1College of Life Sciences, Gutian Edible Fungi Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002 People's Republic of China
| | - Wensong Jin
- 1College of Life Sciences, Gutian Edible Fungi Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002 People's Republic of China
| | - Huifang Gao
- 1College of Life Sciences, Gutian Edible Fungi Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002 People's Republic of China
| | - Zewang Guo
- 1College of Life Sciences, Gutian Edible Fungi Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002 People's Republic of China
| | - Hui Lin
- 1College of Life Sciences, Gutian Edible Fungi Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002 People's Republic of China
| | - Jiahuan Li
- 1College of Life Sciences, Gutian Edible Fungi Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002 People's Republic of China
| | - Kaihui Hu
- 1College of Life Sciences, Gutian Edible Fungi Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002 People's Republic of China
| | - Xiong Guan
- 1College of Life Sciences, Gutian Edible Fungi Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002 People's Republic of China
| | - Vipin C Kalia
- 2Department of Chemical Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul, 05029 Republic of Korea
| | - Jung-Kul Lee
- 2Department of Chemical Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul, 05029 Republic of Korea
| | - Liaoyuan Zhang
- 1College of Life Sciences, Gutian Edible Fungi Research Institute, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002 People's Republic of China
- 2Department of Chemical Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul, 05029 Republic of Korea
| | - Yongyu Li
- 3College of Horticulture, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002 People's Republic of China
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