Synthetic Biology Applications in Industrial Microbiology

With the ability to perform a multitude of unique and complex chemical transformations, microorganisms have long been the “workhorses” of many industrial processes. However, in addition to exploiting the utility of naturally evolved phenotypes, the principles, strategies, and tools of synthetic biology are now being applied to facilitate the engineering of tailor-made microbes capable of tackling some of society's most important and toughest challenges. Fueled in part by exponentially increasing reservoirs of bioinformatic data and coupled with more robust and powerful tools for its processing, research in the past decade has brought about new and broadened perspectives of fundamental biological phenomena. The application of said insight is now beginning to unlock the unprecedented potential of synthetic biology in biotechnology, as well as its considerable promise for addressing previously unsolved global challenges. For example, within the realm of industrial microbiology, progress in the field of synthetic biology has enabled the development of new biosynthetic pathways for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals, programmable logic controls to regulate and optimize complex cellular functions, and robust microbes for the destruction of harmful environmental contaminants. In this Research Topic, a collection of articles—including original research, reviews, and mini-reviews—from leading investigators in the synthetic biology community are presented to capture the current state, recent progress, and over-arching challenges associated with integrating synthetic biology with industrial microbiology and biotechnology.