Toward the Exploitation of Sustainable Green Factory: Biotechnology Use of Nannochloropsis spp.

Simple Summary: With the increase in the global population, food and energy production systems need to find immediately effective alternatives. There has been increased interest in microalgae thanks to their ability to grow exploiting photosynthesis with only water and simple nutrients, even derived from wastewater. Among microalgae, Nannochloropsis genus is one of the most interesting ones due to the capacity to accumulate "good" fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6. Currently, the cultivation of microalgae is not often cost-effective, and strain domestication must be performed. Microalgae can be manipulated through metabolic engineering to increase their biomass productivity or to obtain high-value products that overcome the cultivation cost. Here, we review the main genetic manipulation tools and present some examples to explain the potential of Nannochloropsis spp. as a green cell bio-factory. The use of genetic engineering will finally bridge the gap between the probable and feasible use of microalgae. Securing food, energy, and raw materials for a growing population is one of the most significant challenges of our century. Algae play a central role as an alternative to plants. Wastewater and flue gas can secure nutrients and CO2 for carbon fixation. Unfortunately, algae domestication is necessary to enhance biomass production and reduce cultivation costs. Nannochloropsis spp. have increased in popularity among microalgae due to their ability to accumulate high amounts of lipids, including PUFAs. Recently, the interest in the use of Nannochloropsis spp. as a green bio-factory for producing high-value products increased proportionally to the advances of synthetic biology and genetic tools in these species. In this review, we summarized the state of the art of current nuclear genetic manipulation techniques and a few examples of their application. The industrial use of Nannochloropsis spp. has not been feasible yet, but genetic tools can finally lead to exploiting this full-of-potential microalga. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]