title: Metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria for the synthesis of commodity products.
abstract: Through metabolic engineering cyanobacteria can be employed in biotechnology. Combining the capacity for oxygenic photosynthesis and carbon fixation with an engineered metabolic pathway allows carbon-based product formation from CO(2), light, and water directly. Such cyanobacterial 'cell factories' are constructed to produce biofuels, bioplastics, and commodity chemicals. Efforts of metabolic engineers and synthetic biologists allow the modification of the intermediary metabolism at various branching points, expanding the product range. The new biosynthesis routes 'tap' the metabolism ever more efficiently, particularly through the engineering of driving forces and utilization of cofactors generated during the light reactions of photosynthesis, resulting in higher product titers. High rates of carbon rechanneling ultimately allow an almost-complete allocation of fixed carbon to product above biomass.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Microbial Physiology Group, Swammerdam Institute of Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: S Andreas
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Angermayr
authors.affiliation: Molecular Microbial Physiology Group, Swammerdam Institute of Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Aleix
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gorchs Rovira
authors.affiliation: Molecular Microbial Physiology Group, Swammerdam Institute of Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: K.J.Hellingwerf@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Klaas J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Hellingwerf
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D060847:Metabolic Engineering; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D010969:Plastics / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D058615:Synthetic Biology
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D010969:Plastics; D002245:Carbon Dioxide