Oxygenic photosynthesis evolved originally in cyanobacteria, and they are still the only bacteria capable of this reaction. Many biotechnology applications could benefit from harnessing cyanobacteria as industrial production platforms because genetic manipulation of bacterial genomes is simple in comparison to eukaryotic organisms and growing cyanobacteria does not directly compete with food production. Even though we understand the basic reactions of photosynthesis rather well, many regulatory mechanisms are still unsolved. Acetyl coenzyme A is a central metabolite that can be used to regulate metabolic enzymes by transferring acetyl groups to them from acetyl coenzyme A. The aim of the CyanoGNAT project is to study how the energetic status of the cell is used for the feedback regulation of photosynthetic light and carbon assimilation reactions via protein acetylation in cyanobacteria.

2022

2025