Overexpression of bicarbonate transporters in the marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 increases growth rate and glycogen accumulation

BACKGROUND: Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 is an attractive organism as a feedstock and for photoautotrophic production of biofuels and biochemicals due to its fast growth and ability to grow in marine/brackish medium. Previous studies suggest that the growth of this organism is limited by the HCO(3)(−) transport across the cytoplasmic membrane. Tools for genetic engineering are well established for this cyanobacterium, which makes it possible to overexpress genes of interest. RESULTS: In this work, we overexpressed two different native Na(+)-dependent carbon transporters viz., SbtA and BicA in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 cells under the influence of a strong light-inducible promoter and a strong RBS sequence. The overexpression of these transporters enhanced biomass by about 50%, increased intracellular glycogen about 50%, and increased extracellular carbohydrate up to threefold. Importantly, the biomass and glycogen productivity of the transformants with air bubbling was even higher than that of WT cells with 1% CO(2) bubbling. The overexpression of these transporters was associated with an increased carotenoid content without altering the chl a content. CONCLUSIONS: Our work shows the utility of increased carbon transport in improving the growth as well as product formation in a marine cyanobacterium and will serve to increase the utility of this organism as a potential cell factory.