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  • Review Article
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Rewiring photosynthetic electron transport chains for solar energy conversion

Nature Reviews Bioengineering volume 1, pages 887–905 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Photosynthetic organisms have evolved versatile electron transport chains that efficiently convert solar energy into chemical energy. Researchers can engineer these electron transport pathways to drive new-to-nature processes in a class of systems we term ‘rewired photosynthetic electron transport chains’ (R-PETCs). R-PETCs can be used for the light-driven production of electricity or chemicals and exhibit numerous advantages over the synthetic systems widely used for these applications, including enhanced stability, versatility and sustainability. In this Review, we summarize the current state of R-PETC research, highlighting major advances alongside outstanding research problems. We also provide descriptions of R-PETC development, outlining the different classes of R-PETCs, the research tools used in their construction and the key design considerations important for achieving high performances. Finally, we identify future avenues for R-PETC research that we expect will enhance performances sufficiently to make these systems suitable for different real-world applications.

Key points

  • Photosynthetic organisms use solar energy to generate high-energy electrons through their photosynthetic electron transport chains.

  • Electrons from different photosynthetic electron transport chains can be rewired to new-to-nature pathways, creating biotechnologies for solar-powered electricity generation and chemical synthesis.

  • Rewiring can be achieved using various biological and artificial components, including electrodes, electron mediators, polymers, redox proteins, enzymes and other organisms.

  • This biological approach to solar energy conversion is versatile, sustainable and long-lasting, although further advances in performance are required to attain real-world applications.

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Fig. 1: Rewiring PETCs.
Fig. 2: Diversity of photosynthetic electron transport in phototrophic organisms.
Fig. 3: Biological strategies for rewiring PETCs.
Fig. 4: Semi-artificial strategies for rewiring PETCs.
Fig. 5: Applications of R-PETCs.
Fig. 6: Performance of R-PETCs compared to alternative solar energy technologies.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/M011194/1 to J.M.L. and A.S., BB/R011923/1 to J.Z.), the Cambridge Trust (R.E. and L.S.), and the China Scholarship Council (no. 202008440417 to L.S.). We thank N. Plumeré and V. Friebe for helpful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Joshua M. Lawrence, Alberto Scarampi & Christopher J. Howe

  2. Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Joshua M. Lawrence, Rachel M. Egan, Linying Shang & Jenny Z. Zhang

  3. Campus Straubing for Biotechnology and Sustainability, Technical University of Munich, Straubing, Germany

    Thomas Hoefer

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Contributions

J.M.L. developed the concept for the article under the guidance of J.Z.Z.; J.M.L., R.M.E., T.H., A.S. and L.S. researched data for the article; and T.H. performed the calculations. All authors contributed substantially to discussion of the content. J.M.L. wrote the article with input from all authors. J.M.L., C.J.H. and J.Z.Z. reviewed and/or edited the manuscript before submission. J.M.L. and J.Z.Z. assembled the team and coordinated the writing process.

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Correspondence to Christopher J. Howe or Jenny Z. Zhang.

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Nature Reviews Bioengineering thanks Ivo H.M. van Stokkum, Robert Kourist and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Lawrence, J.M., Egan, R.M., Hoefer, T. et al. Rewiring photosynthetic electron transport chains for solar energy conversion. Nat Rev Bioeng 1, 887–905 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-023-00093-x

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