Photosynthetic organisms have emerged as an attractive platform for the production of valuable bio-chemicals, such as pharmaceuticals or biofuels. Cyanobacteria—photosynthetic bacteria—are among the most promising chases because they combine the benefits of photosynthesis (harvesting sunlight to fix atmospheric CO2) and E. coli (genetic tractability, natural gene uptake). However, little research has been done investigating photosynthetic metabolism during natural light cycles. We addressed this knowledge gap by studying the cyanobacteria Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 during dynamic light:dark cycles, mimicking that of natural sunlight, throughout a 24 hour period. Growth characteristics between continuous light cultures and light/dark cultures were compared. This data, when incorporated into current in silico models, tremendously improves their predictive capabilities. The techniques employed for model generation is applicable to other photosynthetic organisms, as well as other transient modelling approaches.

Characterization and modeling of metabolic changes in cyanobacteria during photosynthesis

249th National Meeting (2015)

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