Engineering cyanobacterial resilience for cadmium bioremediation: linking Cd speciation, cellular detoxification, and synthetic biology.
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, King Faisal University Al-Ahsa-31982 Saudi Arabia [email protected].
- 2Department of Bioengineering, Integral University Lucknow Uttar Pradesh-226026 India.
- 3Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Sciences, Pole Urban Ouzera, University of Medea Medea Algeria.
- 4Laboratory Materials and Environment, University Yahia Fares of Medea, Urban Center Medea 26000 Algeria.
- 5Marwadi University Research Center, Department of Agriculture, Faculty of Science, Marwadi University Rajkot-360003 Gujarat India [email protected].
Abstract
Cadmium (Cd) is a persistent, non-essential toxic metal that threatens aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, agricultural productivity, and food safety. Cyanobacteria offer a promising platform for Cd bioremediation by combining photoautotrophic growth with extracellular metal binding, membrane transport, intracellular sequestration, thiol-mediated detoxification, and redox regulation. This review develops an integrated framework for engineering cyanobacterial resilience to Cd stress, linking Cd²⁺ speciation and bioavailability with cellular uptake, detoxification, and biomass-associated metal recovery. We critically evaluate the evidence for metallothioneins, metal-responsive transport systems, antioxidant responses, and omics-guided target identification, while distinguishing mechanisms directly demonstrated in cyanobacteria from strategies inferred from other organisms or metal systems. Emerging approaches, including synthetic biology, nano-bio living materials, and photobioreactor engineering, are discussed in the context of improving Cd removal without compromising photosynthetic fitness and process stability. We argue that maximizing Cd accumulation alone is an inadequate remediation objective because excessive intracellular Cd can impair photosynthesis, redox homeostasis, growth, and biomass viability. Future designs should therefore optimize Cd removal, cyanobacterial resilience, metal recovery, genetic stability, and containment as interconnected process parameters. Finally, we identify key validation requirements for translating engineered cyanobacterial systems from molecular mechanisms to scalable and environmentally responsible Cd-remediation technologies.
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BibTeX
@article{ali2026engineering,
title = {{Engineering cyanobacterial resilience for cadmium bioremediation: linking Cd speciation, cellular detoxification, and synthetic biology.}},
author = {Sajad Ali and Talat Ilyas and Nabil Touzout and Mohammad Shahid and Alvina Farooqui and Mohammed A Almalki and Mohammad Alfredan and Rashid Ismael Hag Ibrahim},
journal = {RSC advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra05152a},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42840824},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Engineering cyanobacterial resilience for cadmium bioremediation: linking Cd speciation, cellular detoxification, and synthetic biology.
AU - Sajad Ali
AU - Talat Ilyas
AU - Nabil Touzout
AU - Mohammad Shahid
AU - Alvina Farooqui
AU - Mohammed A Almalki
AU - Mohammad Alfredan
AU - Rashid Ismael Hag Ibrahim
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
JO - RSC advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra05152a
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42840824
AB - Cadmium (Cd) is a persistent, non-essential toxic metal that threatens aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, agricultural productivity, and food safety. Cyanobacteria offer a promising platform for Cd bioremediation by combining photoautotrophic growth with extracellular metal binding, membrane transport, intracellular sequestration, thiol-mediated detoxification, and redox regulation. This review develops an integrated framework for engineering cyanobacterial resilience to Cd stress, linking Cd²⁺ speciation and bioavailability with cellular uptake, detoxification, and biomass-associated metal recovery. We critically evaluate the evidence for metallothioneins, metal-responsive transport systems, antioxidant responses, and omics-guided target identification, while distinguishing mechanisms directly demonstrated in cyanobacteria from strategies inferred from other organisms or metal systems. Emerging approaches, including synthetic biology, nano-bio living materials, and photobioreactor engineering, are discussed in the context of improving Cd removal without compromising photosynthetic fitness and process stability. We argue that maximizing Cd accumulation alone is an inadequate remediation objective because excessive intracellular Cd can impair photosynthesis, redox homeostasis, growth, and biomass viability. Future designs should therefore optimize Cd removal, cyanobacterial resilience, metal recovery, genetic stability, and containment as interconnected process parameters. Finally, we identify key validation requirements for translating engineered cyanobacterial systems from molecular mechanisms to scalable and environmentally responsible Cd-remediation technologies.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -