NPIF: Photobioreactors for sustainable production of plant-driven biocompounds

From papers, fabrics to wood products, plants generate most of the natural materials used in our environment [1]. Plants also supply medicines, dyes, spices, and other specialized chemicals. While biotechnology has blossomed into industrial scale cell culturing for microbial and mammalian systems, plant cells are scarcely used; interestingly, plant-driven products are generated in other organisms via transgenic introduction of plant pathways [2]. Why are plant cells overlooked in industrial biotechnology? According to representatives of major companies in the field, the problem is simply that the tools and protocols are underdeveloped for industrial plant cell biotechnology, such as the suitable bioreactor platforms and the availability of high efficiency cell factories.


Plant cells tend toward frail in typical bioreactors developed for microbes and mammalian cells; they are sensitive to the shear stress caused by mechanical mixing of the medium. Furthermore, even though plant cells are autotrophic, they need supply of a high amount of sugar inside traditional bioreactors devoid of light. Ironically, the sugar content increases the risk of microbial contamination and infection. Therefore, bioreactors that allow photosynthesis (i.e. photobioreactors) should be developed for plant cell culturing. The biotechnology company Xanthella has established versatile photobioreactors for culturing diverse algae species [3]. Their systems supply air via tubes and thus do not involve mechanical mixing of the medium, and they come in a wide range of scales. Underdeveloped tools also extend to the selection of plant cell factories; the Nakayama Group at the University of Edinburgh is developing a synthetic biology toolbox to create plant cell factories with enhanced capabilities to produce specific types of biocompounds.


This PhD project aims to establish a robust, low-cost, and scalable platform for plant cell culturing and thus plant cell-based industrial biotechnology. Combining the novel Arabidopsis cell factory lines with Xanthella's photobioreactors, we will develop two enabling innovations for plant cell-based industrial biotechnology: the suitable bioreactors and sophisticated toolbox for precision control of the cell activities.