Microbial synthetic biology for plant metabolite production: a strategy to reconcile human health with the realization of the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Plants produce a wide range of secondary metabolites that provide an array of benefits for human health. Challenges of native host production systems such as excessive land use, large carbon footprints, long production times, and high production costs often make plant‐based production of these critical metabolites inefficient and unsustainable. Engineered production through microbial‐based synthetic biology offers an alternative method of producing plant compounds that addresses the limitations encountered in plant‐based production. New technological and analytical tools such as bioprospecting, machine learning, and protein modeling can be used to explore biodiversity‐based data to identify more efficient enzymatic sequences for optimizing the production of plant derivatives. Ex planta production using microbial chassis systems provides a flexible, scalable metabolic platform that can more readily integrate new metabolic processes. Potential improvements include increased production rates and enhanced bioavailability of critical compounds, expanding the frontiers of metabolite production for optimized clinical applications. Microbial‐based synthetic biology also opens an avenue for sustainable production, with the capability of modifying the microbial chassis to accommodate a wide variety of substrates for feedstock. It includes the utilization of waste from human activities as carbon sources for production, presenting an opportunity to use cheap renewable resources for greener production methods. The benefits of ex planta production systems can potentially enable the efficient, scalable, and sustainable production of plant derivatives that may vastly improve health and help bring forward the realization of the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Microbial Biotechnology: A Key Tool for Addressing Climate Change and Food Insecurity

“…Recent advancements underscore the potential in diverse areas, including synthetic biology, environmental applications, and therapeutic interventions. Exploration of engineered microbial systems using synthetic biology tools for sustainable bio-manufacturing (Rojo et al, 2023), harnessing microbial consortia for environmental remediation, and innovative CRISPR-based tools for precision genome editing in microbes (Wei & Li, 2023) represent just a few focal points. These recent advancements underscore the diverse and multifaceted opportunities that lie ahead in the dynamic landscape of microbial biotechnology.…”