Cyanobacterial type I CRISPR-Cas systems: distribution, mechanisms, and genome editing applications
Open accessAbstract
Cyanobacteria, renowned for their photosynthetic capabilities, serve as efficient microbial chassis capable of converting carbon dioxide into a spectrum of bio-chemicals. However, conventional genetic manipulation strategies have proven incompatible with the precise and systematic modifications required in the field of cyanobacterial synthetic biology. Here, we present an in-depth analysis of endogenous CRISPR-Cas systems within cyanobacterial genomes, with a particular focus on the Type I systems, which are the most widely distributed. We provide a comprehensive summary of the reported DNA defense mechanisms mediated by cyanobacterial Type I CRISPR-Cas systems and their current applications in genome editing. Furthermore, we offer insights into the future applications of these systems in the context of cyanobacterial genome editing, underscoring their potential to revolutionize synthetic biology approaches.
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Ongoing advancements in CRISPR technology are broadening the scope of cyanobacterial genetic engineering and are poised to play a progressively significant role in developing engineered photosynthetic biotechnologies.
“Nonetheless, ongoing advancements in CRISPR technology are broadening the scope of cyanobacterial genetic engineering and are poised to play a progressively significant role in developing engineered photosynthetic biotechnologies [116,121].”
From Cyanobacteria as a Photosynthetic Chassis for Metabolic Pathway Engineering with Heterologous Gene Expression (2026) · cites this paper as [121]
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“Nonetheless, ongoing advancements in CRISPR technology are broadening the scope of cyanobacterial genetic engineering and are poised to play a progressively significant role in developing engineered photosynthetic biotechnologies [116,121].”
- Authors
- Zhang, Y., Yang, S., Zheng, X., & Tan, X.
- Affiliations
- State Key Laboratory of Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Zheng, Xianliang
- Tan, Xiaoming
- Venue
- Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2025-02-27
- Volume
- 13
- Pages
- 1552030-1552030
- ISSN
- 2296-4185 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC11903412
- OpenAlex
- W4408005540
- Cited by
- 3
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2
- FWCI
- 0.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (31871303)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › CRISPR and Genetic Engineering
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
- Keywords
- cyanobacteria, genome editing, microbial chassis
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