Cyanobacterial metabolic engineering for biofuel and chemical production

Rising levels of atmospheric CO2 are contributing to the global greenhouse effect. Large scale use of atmospheric CO2 may be a sustainable and renewable means of chemical and liquid fuel production to mitigate global climate change. Photosynthetic organisms are an ideal platform for efficient, natural CO2 conversion to a broad range of chemicals. Cyanobacteria are especially attractive for these purposes, due to their genetic malleability and relatively fast growth rate. Recent years have yielded a range of work in the metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria and have led to greater knowledge of the host metabolism. Understanding of endogenous and heterologous carbon regulation mechanisms leads to the expansion of productive capacity and chemical variety. This review discusses the recent progress in metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria for biofuel and bulk chemical production since 2014.