Berepiki, A., Hitchcock, A., Moore, C.M. et al. (1 more author) (2016) Tapping the Unused Potential of Photosynthesis with a Heterologous Electron Sink. ACS Synthetic Biology, 5 (12). pp. 1369-1375. ISSN 2161-5063
Abstract
Increasing the efficiency of the conversion of light energy to products by photosynthesis represents a grand challenge in biotechnology. Photosynthesis is limited by the carbon-fixing enzyme Rubisco resulting in much of the absorbed energy being wasted as heat or fluorescence or lost as excess reductant via alternative electron dissipation pathways. To harness this wasted reductant, we engineered the model cyanobacterium Synechococcus PCC 7002 to express the mammalian cytochrome P450 CYP1A1 to serve as an artificial electron sink for excess electrons derived from light-catalyzed water-splitting. This improved photosynthetic efficiency by increasing the maximum rate of photosynthetic electron flow by 31.3%. A simple fluorescent assay for CYP1A1 activity demonstrated that the P450 was functional in the absence of its native reductase, that activity was light-dependent and scaled with irradiance. We show for the first time in live cells that photosynthetic reductant can be redirected to power a heterologous cytochrome P450. Furthermore, Synechococcus PCC 7002 expressing CYP1A1 degraded the herbicide atrazine, which is a widespread environmental pollutant.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in ACS Synthetic Biology, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.6b00100. |
Keywords: | atrazine; cyanobacteria; electron sink; P450; photosynthesis; photosystem |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) > Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 17 Nov 2017 15:32 |
Last Modified: | 17 Nov 2017 15:37 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.6b00100 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acssynbio.6b00100 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:124121 |