Trophic Conversion of an Obligate Photoautotrophic Organism Through Metabolic Engineering
Abstract
Most microalgae are obligate photoautotrophs and their growth is strictly dependent on the generation of photosynthetically derived energy. We show that the microalga Phaeodactylum tricornutum can be genetically engineered to thrive on exogenous glucose in the absence of light through the introduction of a gene encoding a glucose transporter ( glut1 or hup1 ). This demonstrates that a fundamental change in the metabolism of an organism can be accomplished through the introduction of a single gene. This also represents progress toward the use of fermentation technology for large-scale commercial exploitation of algae by reducing limitations associated with light-dependent growth.
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Algae production strains have the potential to be bioengineered, allowing improvement of specific traits and production of valuable co-products, which may allow algal biofuels to compete economically with petroleum.
“Algae production strains also have the potential to be bioengineered, allowing improvement of specific traits [25,26] and production of valuable co-products, which may allow algal biofuels to compete economically with petroleum.”
From Biofuels from algae: Challenges and potential (2010) · cites this paper as [26]
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- Authors
- Zaslavskaia, L. A., Lippmeier, J. C., Shih, C., Ehrhardt, D., Grossman, A. R., & Apt, K. E.
- Affiliations
- Martek Biosciences Corp., 6480 Dobbin Road, Columbia, MD 21045, USA.
- Carnegie Institution for Science (US)
- Corresponding author
- Apt, K. E.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2001-06-15
- Volume
- 292
- Issue
- 5524
- Pages
- 2073-2075
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W1973319807
- Cited by
- 307
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 15.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Plant biochemistry and biosynthesis
- Keywords
- Phaeodactylum tricornutum, microalgae, glucose utilization, glucose transporters, GLUT1, photoautotrophy, heterotrophic growth, metabolic engineering, fermentation
- MeSH terms
- Biological Transport, Cell Line, Transformed, Cell Membrane, Darkness, Genetic Engineering, Glucose, Glycolysis, Humans, Light, Luminescent Proteins, Membrane Proteins, Molecular Weight, Monosaccharide Transport Proteins, Photosynthesis, Recombinant Fusion Proteins, Transformation, Genetic, Diatoms, Microscopy, Confocal, Symporters, Green Fluorescent Proteins, Glucose Transporter Type 1
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