Biotechnology and Applications
The unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 was the third prokaryote and first photosynthetic organism whose genome was completely sequenced. It continues to be an important model organism. The smallest genomes have been found in Prochlorococcus spp. (1.7 Mb) and the largest in Nostoc punctiforme (9 Mb). Those of Calothrix spp. are estimated at 12–15 Mb, as large as yeast.
Some cyanobacteria are sold as food, notably Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and Arthrospira platensis (Spirulina).
Recent research has suggested the potential application of cyanobacteria to the generation of renewable energy via converting sunlight into electricity. Currently efforts are underway to commercialize algae-based fuels such as diesel, gasoline and jet fuel.
Researchers from a company called Algenol have cultured genetically modified cyanobacteria in sea water inside a clear plastic enclosure so that they first make sugar (pyruvate) from CO2 and the water via photosynthesis. Then, the bacteria secrete ethanol from the cell into the salt water. As the day progresses, and the solar radiation intensifies, ethanol concentrations build up and the ethanol itself evaporates onto the roof of the enclosure. As the sun recedes, evaporated ethanol and water condenses into droplets, which run along the plastic walls and into ethanol collectors, from where it is extracted from the enclosure with the water and ethanol separated outside the enclosure. As of September 2012, Algenol was claiming to have tested its technology on 4 acres in Florida and to have achieved yields of 7,000 US gallons per acre (4,500 litres per hectare) each day. This could potentially meet US demands for ethanol in gasoline in 2025, assuming a B30 blend, from an area of around half the size of California’s San Bernardino County, requiring less than one tenth of the area than ethanol from other biomass, such as corn, and only very limited amounts of fresh water.
Cyanobacteria may possess the ability to produce substances that could one day serve as anti-inflammatory agents and combat bacterial infections in humans.
Read more about this topic: Cyanobacteria