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Genetic Engineering of Cyanobacteria to Enhance Biohydrogen Production from Sunlight and Water

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Abstract

To mitigate global warming caused by burning fossil fuels, a renewable energy source available in large quantity is urgently required. We are proposing large-scale photobiological H2 production by mariculture-raised cyanobacteria where the microbes capture part of the huge amount of solar energy received on earth’s surface and use water as the source of electrons to reduce protons. The H2 production system is based on photosynthetic and nitrogenase activities of cyanobacteria, using uptake hydrogenase mutants that can accumulate H2 for extended periods even in the presence of evolved O2. This review summarizes our efforts to improve the rate of photobiological H2 production through genetic engineering. The challenges yet to be overcome to further increase the conversion efficiency of solar energy to H2 also are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (DOE BER Office of Science DE-FC02-07ER64494) and by the JST PRESTO.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for Photobiological Hydrogen Production, Kanagawa University, 2946 Tsuchiya, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, 259-1293, Japan

    Hajime Masukawa & Hidehiro Sakurai

  2. PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan

    Hajime Masukawa

  3. Research Institute for Integrated Science, Kanagawa University, 2946 Tsuchiya, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, 259-1293, Japan

    Masaharu Kitashima

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, Kanagawa University, 2946 Tsuchiya, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, 259-1293, Japan

    Kazuhito Inoue

  5. Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, 2215 Biomedical Physical Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824-4320, USA

    Robert P. Hausinger

Authors
  1. Hajime Masukawa
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  2. Masaharu Kitashima
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  3. Kazuhito Inoue
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  4. Hidehiro Sakurai
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  5. Robert P. Hausinger
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Correspondence to Hajime Masukawa.

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Masukawa, H., Kitashima, M., Inoue, K. et al. Genetic Engineering of Cyanobacteria to Enhance Biohydrogen Production from Sunlight and Water. AMBIO 41 (Suppl 2), 169–173 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0275-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-012-0275-4

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