Construction of Xylose-Utilizing Cyanobacterial Chassis for Bioproduction Under Photomixotrophic Conditions

Xylose is a major component of lignocellulose and the second most abundant sugar present in nature after glucose; it, therefore, has been considered to be a promising renewable resource for the production of biofuels and chemicals. However, no natural cyanobacterial strain is known capable of utilizing xylose. Here, we take the fast-growing cyanobacteria Synechococcus elongatus UTEX 2973 as an example to develop the synthetic biology-based methodology of constructing a new xylose-utilizing cyanobacterial chassis with increased acetyl-CoA for bioproduction.