Separation of Bioproducts through the Integration of Cyanobacterial Metabolism and Membrane Filtration: Facilitating Cyanobacteria’s Industrial Application

Abstract

In this work, we propose the development of an efficient, economical, automated, and sustainable method for separating bioproducts from culture medium via the integration of a sucrose-secreting cyanobacteria production process and pressure-driven membrane filtration technology. Firstly, we constructed sucrose-secreting cyanobacteria with a sucrose yield of 600–700 mg/L sucrose after 7 days of salt stress, and the produced sucrose could be fully separated from the cyanobacteria cultures through an efficient and automated membrane filtration process. To determine whether this new method is also economical and sustainable, the relationship between membrane species, operating pressure, and the growth status of four cyanobacterial species was systematically investigated. The results revealed that all four cyanobacterial species could continue to grow after UF filtration. The field emission scanning electron microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy results indicate that the cyanobacteria did not cause severe destruction to the membrane surface structure. The good cell viability and intact membrane surface observed after filtration indicated that this innovative cyanobacteria–membrane system is economical and sustainable. This work pioneered the use of membrane separation to achieve the in situ separation of cyanobacterial culture and target products, laying the foundation for the industrialization of cyanobacterial bioproducts.