Rethinking Cyanobacteria: Photosynthetic Biotechnology for Net Zero

Speaker: dr hab. Maurycy Daroch, School of Environment and Energy, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, China

Talk:  Rethinking Cyanobacteria: Photosynthetic Biotechnology for Net Zero

Time: 28.06.2024, 9:00 am

Venue: Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology, Abrahama 58, hall 042B

Over the last 2.5 billion years, cyanobacteria equipped with the Calvin cycle transformed the atmosphere and fertilised our entire planet, allowing for the evolution of complex life forms, including humans. This makes these photosynthetic bacteria arguably the most important group of microorganisms to have ever existed on Earth. Since their early divergence from anoxygenic ancestors, cyanobacteria colonised the entire planet and developed a remarkable diversity of primary and secondary metabolism.

This diversity and metabolic flexibility present an intriguing opportunity for waste valorization, offering a potential solution for simultaneously closing carbon, nitrogen, and micronutrient loops of various industries while generating valuable products such as biochemicals, biofuels and active compounds.

The presentation showcases the diversity of this group and their successful utilization, for valorisation of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur from various wastes. The associated biobased value chains brings about the valorisation of anthropogenic waste into an array of natural (phycoerythrins, phycocyanins, myxoxantophylls) and engineered bioproducts such as isoprene, ethylene and 3-hydroxypropionate in line with the biorefinery approach.

To maximize the performance of these photosynthetic microbial cell factories, we developed and explored the concept of miniploidy, a method of genome number control and refined genetic transformation protocols to facilitate fast mutant generation and decrease the genetic instability in the biosynthesis of valuable products.

More recently we embarked on the exciting journey to alter the central metabolic pathways of carbon fixation and developed the concept of cyanobacterial photochemotrophy. The ultimate goal of this new type of metabolism is to entirely replace the inefficient Calvin cycle and allow the new iteration of refactored cyanobacteria to once again take the central stage in carbon fixation on Earth and play a pivotal role in reversing anthropogenic climate change.