Team:LaVerne-Leos/Project
Background
Cyanobacteria/ biofuel background: Cyanobacteria is a photosynthetic bacteria that is found in aquatic environments as unicellular colonies that can convert up to ten percent of the sun’s energy into biomass (Parmar et al. 2011). Bioethanol and biodiesel are the forms of biofuels currently used to address the high energy demand and global warming issues that will continue to expand if not addressed. (Xuefeng 2010). Through cyanobacteria, scientific communities have engineered ways to derive biofuels from these living organisms. The biofuels are refined from fatty acids produced by cyanobacteria. Thus, cyanobacteria can further contribute to the pool of research to solve these environmental factors. However, present biofuel production techniques are not cost efficient but through genetic manipulation, cyanobacteria can be engineered to produce high levels of biofuels by means of cost effective techniques that can further be implemented to address the global energy demands.
Proposed Projects
Our research aims on changing the current process for creating biofuels from cyanobacteria more efficient, and cost effective, in order to increase the feasibility of large-scale production.
- Auto-induced Cell-lysis
The current processes of extracting free fatty acids (FFAs), which are the precursors to biofuels, involves the use of solvents and other modes of mechanical extraction that exert energy by machines or workers. By engineering the cyanobacteria to lyse when sensing optimum inner FFA concentrations and high amounts of community growth, we allow for the process of extraction to become not only easy, but also efficient. Removing the need for energy expenditures of mechanical extraction, and harmful chemicals that can be toxic to the environment, using cyanobacteria becomes a practical alternative to current fossil fuels. - Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency
Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic organisms, meaning their ability to grow, divide, and produce macromolecules is dependent upon light intensity. Current growth of cyanobacteria involves using large tanks and turning over the bacteria in order to expose them to proper amounts of light. By overexpressing a handful of transcription factors during intense light, we can engineer a system in which the cyanobacteria will respond to light intensity by shortening or lengthening its antennae depending upon light intensity. This control will allow increased amounts of light to penetrate deeper into the tank since the top layer of bacteria does not absorb as much, while increasing overall efficiency. Alongside, making the bacteria’s photosynthetic process yield better results, we eliminate the need to constantly expend energy turning over the bacteria to maximize light exposure.