Designing and creating a modularized synthetic pathway in cyanobacterium Synechocystis enables production of acetone from carbon dioxide

Ketones are a class of important organic compounds. As the simplest ketone, acetone is widely used as solvents or precursors for industrial chemicals. Presently, million tonnes of acetone is produced worldwide annually, from petrochemical processes. Here we report a biotechnological process that can produce acetone from CO2, by designing and creating a modularized synthetic pathway in engineered cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The engineered Synechocystis cells are able to produce acetone (36.0 mg l(-1) culture medium) using CO2 as the sole carbon source, thus opens the gateway for biosynthesis of ketones from CO2. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.