Recent advances in omics-driven research of photosynthetic microorganisms in green biotechnology

Microalgae and cyanobacteria have attracted significant interest from green biotechnology and the bioeconomy due to their numerous beneficial qualities: extremely high growth rate compared to vascular plants; independence from arable land or clean water; ability to produce a variety of industrially important bioproducts, such as biofuels, food and feed additives, and substances for the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. They also offer the possibility of combining bioproduction with industrial carbon dioxide capture and wastewater utilization. One of the main limitations to the widespread use microalgae is the economic feasibility of their cultivation. Consequently, researchers in the field are primarily concerned with the identification of novel high-productive strains and the augmentation of biomass and/or target metabolite yield. Omics technologies are the key to unlocking the biotechnological potential of photosynthetic microorganisms, enabling significant acceleration in the identification of novel, efficient strains and providing valuable insights into the microbial metabolism. The present review focuses on the latest advances in the field of omics-driven research of photosynthetic microorganisms and provides a comprehensive outlook of practical instruments, such as open-access omics databases and stoichiometric metabolic models, that can improve the efficiency of biotechnological research pipelines to achieve breakthroughs in the industrial application of microalgae and cyanobacteria.