Advances in the bacterial organelles for CO2 fixation

Carboxysomes are a family of bacterial microcompartments (BMCs), present in all cyanobacteria and some proteobacteria, which encapsulate the primary CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, within a virus-like polyhedral protein shell. Carboxysomes provide significantly elevated levels of CO2 around Rubisco to maximize carboxylation and reduce wasteful photorespiration, thus functioning as the central CO2-fixation organelles of bacterial CO2-concentration mechanisms. Their intriguing architectural features allow carboxysomes to make a vast contribution to carbon assimilation on a global scale. In this review, we discuss recent research progress that provides new insights into the mechanisms of how carboxysomes are assembled and functionally maintained in bacteria and recent advances in synthetic biology to repurpose the metabolic module in diverse applications.

Automated summary

Carboxysomes are bacterial microcompartments that encapsulate the primary CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco within a virus-like protein shell. They play a central role in CO2 fixation in bacteria by providing elevated levels of CO2 to maximize carboxylation. Recent research has provided new insights into the assembly and functional maintenance of carboxysomes in bacteria and has explored their potential applications in synthetic biology.