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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Jaime AmezagaORCiD, Professor Catherine BiggsORCiD, Dr Catherine Gandy
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Shortage of freshwater is a serious problem in many regions worldwide, and is expected to become even more urgent over the next decades as a result of increased demand for food production and adverse effects of climate change. Vast water resources in the oceans can only be tapped into if sustainable, energy-efficient technologies for desalination are developed. Energization of desalination by sunlight through photosynthetic organisms offers a potential opportunity to exploit biological processes for this purpose. Cyanobacterial cultures in particular can generate a large biomass in brackish and seawater, thereby forming a low-salt reservoir within the saline water. The latter could be used as an ion exchanger through manipulation of transport proteins in the cell membrane. In this article, we use the example of biodesalination as a vehicle to review the availability of tools and methods for the exploitation of cyanobacteria in water biotechnology. Issues discussed relate to strain selection, environmental factors, genetic manipulation, ion transport, cell-water separation, process design, safety, and public acceptance
Author(s): Amezaga JM, Amtmann A, Biggs CA, Bond T, Gandy CJ, Honsbein A, Karunakaran E, Lawton L, Madsen MA, Minas K, Templeton MR
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Plant Physiology
Year: 2014
Volume: 164
Issue: 4
Pages: 1661-1676
Print publication date: 31/03/2014
Online publication date: 08/04/2014
Acceptance date: 05/03/2014
ISSN (print): 0032-0889
ISSN (electronic): 1532-2548
Publisher: American Society of Plant Biologists
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1104/pp.113.233973
DOI: 10.1104/pp.113.233973
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