Carbon recycling by cyanobacteria: improving CO 2 fixation through chemical production

Abstract

Atmospheric CO₂ levels have reached an alarming level due to industrialization and the burning of fossil fuels. In order to lower the level of atmospheric carbon, strategies to sequester excess carbon need to be implemented. The CO₂-fixing mechanism in photosynthetic organisms enables integration of atmospheric CO₂ into biomass. Additionally, through exogenous metabolic pathways in these photosynthetic organisms, fixed CO₂ can be routed to produce various commodity chemicals that are currently produced from petroleum. This review will highlight studies and modifications to different components of cyanobacterial CO₂-fixing systems, as well as the application of these systems toward CO₂-derived chemical production. 2,3-Butanediol is given particular focus as one of the most thoroughly studied systems for conversion of CO₂ to a bioproduct.

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