An Open-Source Modular Bioreactor Platform for Cultivation of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and Extraction of Intracellular Glucose

Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 is a photosynthetic microbe with high potential for capturing excessive atmospheric carbon while generating valuable bioproducts, like glucose. Current cultivation technologies remain expensive, closed-source, and poorly suited for downstream processing. This study presents a low-cost, open-source bioreactor platform with integrated modules for Synechocystis cultivation and glucose extraction. The system incorporates a photobioreactor, a lysis module, and a pressure-driven filtration setup. Optical density was continuously monitored using a custom-built module, and glucose was quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Under an incident light intensity of approximately 400 μmol m−2 s−1, cultures reached a biomass productivity of 90 mg L−1 day−1, with a specific growth rate of 0.166 day−1 and glucose concentrations up to 5.08 mg L−1. A model was developed to predict the growth based on measured environmental parameters, achieving a strong predictive accuracy with a mean absolute error and variance of 0.0009±0.0003. The system demonstrates up to 65% reduction in cost compared to commercial alternatives. This modular platform provides an accessible solution for biomanufacturing research and serves as a template for sustainable cyanobacteria-derived glucose production.