Reprogramming Microbial CO2-Metabolizing Chassis With CRISPR-Cas Systems

Hai-Yan Yu; Shu-Guang Wang; Peng-Fei Xia

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2022.897204

Reprogramming Microbial CO₂-Metabolizing Chassis With CRISPR-Cas Systems

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2022 Jun 23:10:897204. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.897204. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Hai-Yan Yu^{1

2}, Shu-Guang Wang^{1

3}, Peng-Fei Xia¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
³ Sino-French Research Institute for Ecology and Environment, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.

Abstract

Global warming is approaching an alarming level due to the anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂). To overcome the challenge, the reliance on fossil fuels needs to be alleviated, and a significant amount of CO₂ needs to be sequestrated from the atmosphere. In this endeavor, carbon-neutral and carbon-negative biotechnologies are promising ways. Especially, carbon-negative bioprocesses, based on the microbial CO₂-metabolizing chassis, possess unique advantages in fixing CO₂ directly for the production of fuels and value-added chemicals. In order to fully uncover the potential of CO₂-metabolizing chassis, synthetic biology tools, such as CRISPR-Cas systems, have been developed and applied to engineer these microorganisms, revolutionizing carbon-negative biotechnology. Herein, we review the recent advances in the adaption of CRISPR-Cas systems, including CRISPR-Cas based genome editing and CRISPR interference/activation, in cyanobacteria, acetogens, and methanogens. We also envision future innovations via the implementation of rising CRISPR-Cas systems, such as base editing, prime editing, and transposon-mediated genome editing.

Keywords: CRISPR; acetogen; carbon dioxide; cyanobacteria; genome editing; methanogen.

Publication types

Review