Engineered Transcriptional Systems for Cyanobacterial Biotechnology

Cyanobacteria can function as solar-driven biofactories thanks to their ability to perform photosynthesis and the ease with which they are genetically modified. In this review, we discuss transcriptional parts and promoters available for engineering cyanobacteria. First, we go through special cyanobacterial characteristics that may impact engineering, including the unusual cyanobacterial RNA polymerase, sigma factors and promoter types, mRNA stability, circadian rhythm, and gene dosage effects. Then, we continue with discussing component characteristics that are desirable for synthetic biology approaches, including decoupling, modularity, and orthogonality. We then summarize and discuss the latest promoters for use in cyanobacteria regarding characteristics such as regulation, strength, and dynamic range and suggest potential uses. Finally, we provide an outlook and suggest future developments that would advance the field and accelerate the use of cyanobacteria for renewable biotechnology.