Photosynthetic production of itaconic acid in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803.

Here, we report the photosynthetic production of itaconic acid (IA), a promising building block, from carbon dioxide (CO₂) by Synechocystis sp. PCC6803. The engineered PCC6803 strain expressing cis-aconitate decarboxylase, the key enzyme in IA biosynthesis, produced 0.9 mg/L and 14.5 mg/L of IA at production rates of 42.8 μgL(-1)day(-1) and 919.0 μgL(-1)day(-1), under conditions of constant bubbling with air and 5% CO₂, respectively. This is the first report on the possibility of IA production from CO₂ via the photosynthetic process in cyanobacteria.