title: Biodesalination: a case study for applications of photosynthetic bacteria in water treatment.
abstract: Shortage of freshwater is a serious problem in many regions worldwide, and is expected to become even more urgent over the next decades as a result of increased demand for food production and adverse effects of climate change. Vast water resources in the oceans can only be tapped into if sustainable, energy-efficient technologies for desalination are developed. Energization of desalination by sunlight through photosynthetic organisms offers a potential opportunity to exploit biological processes for this purpose. Cyanobacterial cultures in particular can generate a large biomass in brackish and seawater, thereby forming a low-salt reservoir within the saline water. The latter could be used as an ion exchanger through manipulation of transport proteins in the cell membrane. In this article, we use the example of biodesalination as a vehicle to review the availability of tools and methods for the exploitation of cyanobacteria in water biotechnology. Issues discussed relate to strain selection, environmental factors, genetic manipulation, ion transport, cell-water separation, process design, safety, and public acceptance.
authors.affiliation: School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jaime M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Amezaga
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amtmann
authors.forename: Catherine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Biggs
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bond
authors.forename: Catherine J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Gandy
authors.forename: Annegret
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Honsbein
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karunakaran
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lawton
authors.forename: Mary Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Minas
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Templeton
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010788:Photosynthesis; D054712:Salinity; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012964:Sodium