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Cyanobacteria may possess several enzymes that are directly involved in dihydrogen metabolism: nitrogenase(s) catalyzing the production of hydrogen concomitantly with the reduction of dinitrogen to ammonia, an uptake hydrogenase (encoded by hupSL) catalyzing the consumption of hydrogen produced by the nitrogenase, and a bidirectional hydrogenase (encoded by hoxFUYH) which has the capacity to both take up and produce hydrogen. This review summarizes our knowledge about cyanobacterial hydrogenases, focusing on recent progress since the first molecular information was published in 1995. It presents the molecular knowledge about cyanobacterial hupSL and hoxFUYH, their corresponding gene products, and their accessory genes before finishing with an applied aspect—the use of cyanobacteria in a biological, renewable production of the future energy carrier molecular hydrogen. In addition to scientific publications, information from three cyanobacterial genomes, the unicellular Synechocystis strain PCC 6803 and the filamentous heterocystous Anabaena strain PCC 7120 and Nostoc punctiforme (PCC 73102/ATCC 29133) is included

For effective metabolic engineering, a toolbox of genetic components that enables predictable control of gene expression is needed. Here we present a systematic study of promoters and ribosome binding sites in the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. A set of metal ion inducible promoters from Synechocystis were compared to commonly used constitutive promoters, by measuring fluorescence of a reporter protein in a standardized setting to allow for accurate comparisons of promoter activity. The most versatile and useful promoter was found to be PnrsB, which from a relatively silent expression could be induced almost 40-fold, nearly up to the activity of the strong psbA2 promoter. By varying the concentrations of the two metal ion inducers Ni2+ and Co2+, expression from the promoter was highly tunable, results that were reproduced with PnrsB driving ethanol production. The activities of several ribosomal binding sites were also measured, and tested in parallel in Synechocystis and Escherichia coli. The results of the study add useful information to the Synechocystis genetic toolbox for biotechnological applications.

Forskolin is a high value diterpenoid with a broad range of pharmaceutical applications, naturally found in root bark of the plant Coleus forskohlii. Because of its complex molecular structure, chemical synthesis of forskolin is not commercially attractive. Hence, the labor and resource intensive extraction and purification from C. forskohlii plants remains the current source of the compound. We have engineered the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 to produce the forskolin precursor 13R-manoyl oxide (13R-MO), paving the way for light driven biotechnological production of this high value compound. In the course of this work, a new series of integrative vectors for use in Synechocystis was developed and used to create stable lines expressing chromosomally integrated CfTPS2 and CfTPS3, the enzymes responsible for the formation of 13R-MO in C. forskohlii. The engineered strains yielded production titers of up to 0.24 mg g–1 DCW 13R-MO. To increase the yield, 13R-MO producing strains were further engineered by introduction of selected enzymes from C. forskohlii, improving the titer to 0.45 mg g–1 DCW. This work forms a basis for further development of production of complex plant diterpenoids in cyanobacteria.

Terpenoids, or isoprenoids, are a family of compounds with great structural diversity which are essential for all living organisms. In cyanobacteria, they are synthesized from the methylerythritol-phosphate (MEP) pathway, using glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and pyruvate produced by photosynthesis as substrates. The products of the MEP pathway are the isomeric five-carbon compounds isopentenyl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate, which in turn form the basic building blocks for formation of all terpenoids. Many terpenoid compounds have useful properties and are of interest in the fields of pharmaceuticals and nutrition, and even potentially as future biofuels. The MEP pathway, its function and regulation, and the subsequent formation of terpenoids have not been fully elucidated in cyanobacteria, despite its relevance for biotechnological applications. In this review, we summarize the present knowledge about cyanobacterial terpenoid biosynthesis, both regarding the native metabolism and regarding metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria for heterologous production of non-native terpenoids.

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Cyanobacteria are photoautotrophic microorganisms which can be engineered to directly convert CO 2 and water into biofuels and chemicals via photosynthesis using sunlight as energy. However, the product titers and rates are the main challenges that need to be overcome for industrial applications.Here we present systematic modular engineering of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803, enabling efficient biosynthesis of 1-butanol, an attractive commodity chemical and gasoline substitute.Through introducing and re-casting the 1-butanol biosynthetic pathway at the gene and enzyme levels, optimizing the 5 0 -regions of expression units for tuning transcription and translation, rewiring the carbon flux and rewriting the photosynthetic central carbon metabolism to enhance the precursor supply, and performing process development, we were able to reach a cumulative 1-butanol titer of 4.8 g L À1 with a maximal rate of 302 mg L À1 day À1 from the engineered Synechocystis. This represents the highest 1-butanol production from CO 2 reported so far. Our multi-level modular strategy for high-level production of chemicals and advanced biofuels represents a blue-print for future systematic engineering in photosynthetic microorganisms. Broader contextIn order to reduce the impact of human activities on climate change, we must address our dependence on fossil resources. Biological systems are able to make molecules identical to petroleum-derived compounds used in fuels and in the chemical industry. This has led to increasing attention on the field of metabolic engineering, where microorganisms are genetically engineered to produce compounds of industrial interest. Most such microbial systems employ heterotrophic organisms fed substrates generated from plant biomass. However, photosynthetic microorganisms could be used to perform direct production of fuels and chemicals from photosynthesis, enabling a more efficient conversion of solar energy and carbon dioxide to desirable products, thus leading to more sustainable processes. Engineered strains of photosynthetic cyanobacteria can make many different compounds on a proof-of-concept level, but few products so far show titers approaching those achieved in heterotrophic organisms. We have systematically engineered the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 to produce 1-butanol. The resulting titers are among the highest for any heterologous product from cyanobacteria, and we show that long-term productivity is feasible. The employed strategy can be used for other products when engineering photosynthetic microorganisms for direct production of solar chemicals and biofuels.

Of the two natural metabolic pathways for making terpenoids, biotechnological utilization of the mevalonate (MVA) pathway has enabled commercial production of valuable compounds, while the more recently discovered but stoichiometrically more efficient methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway is underdeveloped. We conducted a study on the overexpression of each enzyme in the MEP pathway in the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, to identify potential targets for increasing flux towards terpenoid production, using isoprene as a reporter molecule. Results showed that the enzymes Ipi, Dxs and IspD had the biggest impact on isoprene production. By combining and creating operons out of those genes, isoprene production was increased 2-fold compared to the base strain. A genome-scale model was used to identify targets upstream of the MEP pathway that could redirect flux towards terpenoids. A total of ten reactions from the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle, lower glycolysis and co-factor synthesis pathways were probed for their effect on isoprene synthesis by co-expressing them with the MEP enzymes, resulting in a 60% increase in production from the best strain. Lastly, we studied two isoprene synthases with the highest reported catalytic rates. Only by expressing them together with Dxs and Ipi could we get stable strains that produced 2.8 mg/g isoprene per dry cell weight, a 40-fold improvement compared to the initial strain.