To date, nearly all established biotechnological processes are based on heterotrophic organisms. However, these processes depend on organic carbon-based feedstocks like corn or sugarcane and sustainability is questionable. As an alternative, the use of CO₂ as a cheap and especially abundant inorganic carbon source needs to be considered. Cyanobacteria as photoautotrophic organisms are capable of performing photosynthesis and fix CO₂ from the atmosphere. In addition, they only need water and sunlight as an energy source. During the last years, cyanobacteria gained more and more interest as biocatalysts for the production of value-added compounds. Although a lot of proof-of-concept studies exist, a deeper understanding of these microbes is necessary to realize rational engineering strategies for the development of cyanobacterial workhorses. In this study the cyanobacterial model organism Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was utilized for the photoautotrophic production of succinate. It was shown, that succinate can be produced directly from CO₂ and that cyanobacteria have the potential to be applied in sustainable biotechnological processes. However, also the current bottlenecks for industrial applications were highlighted. Furthermore, it was shown that genetic manipulations can have a significant impact on the cell physiology and that these impacts need to be analyzed and understood to identify appropriate approaches to further improve cyanobacterial biocatalysts.weiterlesen