MORE | Spring 2023

Engineering the Cyanobacterial Photosynthetic Electron Transport Chain to Improve Photosynthetic Efficiency

Due to increased energy demand, finding new alternative energy sources is now vital, and establishing a renewable energy source is a major challenge. Increasing the photosynthetic efficiency of phototrophic microorganisms, however, is important for meeting human needs. The primary cause of decreased energy conversion efficiency in living cells is susceptibility to leakage in electron transport inside the bioenergetic apparatus. Previously, the research team designed two distinct strategies (1. overexpression of major protein in b6f (cytochrome b6f) and 2. linking photosystem I (PSI) and b6f) for better photosynthetic efficiency in cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803. Later research showed that modified strains grew faster than Wild Type strain. Future research on oxygen evolution is expected to be more detailed.