Abstract
Genetically engineered cyanobacteria offer a shortcut to convert CO2 and H2O directly into biofuels and high value chemicals for societal benefits. Farnesene, a long-chained hydrocarbon (C15H24), has many applications in lubricants, cosmetics, fragrances, and biofuels. However, a method for the sustainable, photosynthetic production of farnesene has been lacking. Here, we report the photosynthetic production of farnesene by the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 using only CO2, mineralized water, and light. A codon-optimized farnesene synthase gene was chemically synthesized and then expressed in the cyanobacterium, enabling it to synthesize farnesene through its endogenous non-mevalonate (MEP) pathway. Farnesene excreted from the engineered cyanobacterium volatilized into the flask head space and was recovered by adsorption in a resin column. The maximum photosynthetic productivity of farnesene was 69.1 ± 1.8 μg·L−1·O.D.−1·d−1. Compared to the wild type, the farnesene-producing cyanobacterium also exhibited a 60 % higher PSII activity under high light, suggesting increased farnesene productivity in such conditions. We envision genetically engineered cyanobacteria as a bio-solar factory for photosynthetic production of a wide range of biofuels and commodity chemicals.
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Acknowledgments
A special thanks to David Sturdevant for his aid in the strain engineering, and Carl Fellbaum, who assisted in the development of the methodology for farnesene collection. This research is partially supported by USDA-SBIR grant 2012-33610-19524, the National Science Foundation, Energy for Sustainability Grant CBET1133951 (to R. Z.), and by South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station.
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Halfmann, C., Gu, L., Gibbons, W. et al. Genetically engineering cyanobacteria to convert CO2, water, and light into the long-chain hydrocarbon farnesene. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 98, 9869–9877 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6118-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6118-4