Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

The Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology (한국미생물·생명공학회)
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Inhibition of Polyphosphate Degradation in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 through Inactivation of the phoU Gene

  • Han-bin Ryu (Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University) ;
  • Mi-Jin Kang (Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University) ;
  • Kyung-Min Choi (Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University) ;
  • Il-Kyu Yang (Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University) ;
  • Seong-Joo Hong (Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University) ;
  • Choul-Gyun Lee (Department of Biological Engineering, Inha University)
  • Received : 2023.11.29
  • Accepted : 2023.12.31
  • Published : 2024.02.28
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Abstract

Phosphorus is an essential but non-renewable nutrient resource critical for agriculture. Luxury phosphorus uptake allows microalgae to synthesize polyphosphate and accumulate phosphorus, but, depending on the strain of algae, polyphosphate may be degraded within 4 hours of accumulation. We studied the recovery of phosphorus from wastewater through luxury uptake by an engineered strain of Synechocystis sp. with inhibited polyphosphate degradation and the effect of this engineered Synechocystis biomass on lettuce growth. First, a strain (∆phoU) lacking the phoU gene, which encodes a negative regulator of environmental phosphate concentrations, was generated to inhibit polyphosphate degradation in cells. Polyphosphate concentrations in the phoU knock-out strain were maintained for 24 h and then decreased slowly. In contrast, polyphosphate concentrations in the wild-type strain increased up to 4 h and then decreased rapidly. In addition, polyphosphate concentration in the phoU knockout strain cultured in semi-permeable membrane bioreactors with artificial wastewater medium was 2.5 times higher than that in the wild type and decreased to only 16% after 48 h. The biomass of lettuce treated with the phoU knockout strain (0.157 mg P/m2) was 38% higher than that of the lettuce treated with the control group. These results indicate that treating lettuce with this microalgal biomass can be beneficial to crop growth. These results suggest that the use of polyphosphate-accumulating microalgae as biofertilizers may alleviate the effects of a diminishing phosphorous supply. These findings can be used as a basis for additional genetic engineering to increase intracellular polyphosphate levels.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean Government (Ministry of Science and ICT) (NRF-2021R1A2C2005148).

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