Gene Delivery Technologies with Applications in Microalgal Genetic Engineering

Simple Summary Microalgae and cyanobacteria are considered intriguing microbes for sustainable biotechnological production of a wide array of high-value metabolites from carbon dioxide and (sun)light. Mature genetic engineering concepts have only recently begun to emerge with the advent of customized DNA synthesis due to complicated genetics in these hosts. The delivery of heterologous DNA into cells is the first step in engineering concepts, yet is highly diverse in methodology, efficacy of expression cassette delivery, and applicability to variable organisms. This work overviews common and not-so common methodologies of DNA delivery, which may find use in engineering concepts for photosynthetic microbes. Microalgae and cyanobacteria are photosynthetic microbes that can be grown with the simple inputs of water, carbon dioxide, (sun)light, and trace elements. Their engineering holds the promise of tailored bio-molecule production using sustainable, environmentally friendly waste carbon inputs. Although algal engineering examples are beginning to show maturity, severe limitations remain in the transformation of multigene expression cassettes into model species and DNA delivery into non-model hosts. This review highlights common and emerging DNA delivery methods used for other organisms that may find future applications in algal engineering.