Exploring native genetic elements as plug-in tools for synthetic biology in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

BACKGROUND: The unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 has been widely used as a photoautotrophic host for synthetic biology studies. However, as a green chassis to capture CO(2) for biotechnological applications, the genetic toolbox for Synechocystis 6803 is still a limited factor. RESULTS: We systematically characterized endogenous genetic elements of Synechocystis 6803, including promoters, ribosome binding sites, transcription terminators, and plasmids. Expression from twelve native promoters was compared by measuring fluorescence from the reporter protein EYFP in an identical setup, exhibiting an 8000-fold range of promoter activities. Moreover, we measured the strength of twenty native ribosome binding sites and eight native terminators, indicating their influence on the expression of the reporter genes. In addition, two shuttle vectors, pCA-UC118 and pCB-SC101, capable of replication in both Synechocystis 6803 and E. coli were constructed. Expression of reporter proteins were significantly enhanced in cells containing these new plasmids, thus providing superior gene expression platforms in this cyanobacterium. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provide useful and well characterized native tools for bioengineering work in the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis 6803. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12934-018-0897-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.