Photosynthetic Growth of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 with Different Levels of CO2 Availability

Abstract

In response to global warming becoming a popular and complex issue in today’s society, scientists began to take a closer look into what specific systems could slow and stop the process of increasing CO2 concentrations, and exactly how those systems function. In Dr. Burnap’s lab, we are focusing on cyanobacteria, a photosynthetic bacteria rich with biochemical diversity. It serves as a model system for the photosynthetic process. However, the main unknown of the photosynthetic process is how specific genes are involved, and the role each gene plays in the process. With the constant burning of fuel, coal, and natural gases, large amounts of CO2 are being emitted into the environment. This is causing many detrimental effects on the world since these are ‘greenhouse gases’, which traps heat that would otherwise be lost as infrared radiation into space. If, by doing our research, we are able to exactly measure the photosynthetic process under controlled conditions, we can determine how to produce biomass in the form of cyanobacterial metabolites to create chemicals and energy. This could affect how biofuels, plastics, and industrial products are made substituting renewable chemical inputs that come from cyanobacterial photosynthetic products instead using chemical inputs derived from fossil fuels. This would shave the effect of reducing carbon dioxide levels within our environment. Research indicates that the increase in the speed of cyanobacterial photosynthetic production to produce, as well as production of other photosynthetic organisms would allow for faster and increased in carbon intake, which could overall serve to alter the progression of global warming by decreasing levels of carbon dioxide and pollutants.