Indigoidine is a bioadvantaged platform molecule with diverse applications, including use as a textile dye, biotransistor, biosolar cell, biosensor, and food coloring. There are multiple microbial hosts and carbon sources that can be used and optimized for its production, yet there is limited guidance for which options have the greatest commercial potential. Here, we consider five different host microbes and combine genome-scale metabolic models with techno-economic and lifecycle assessment models. Pseudomonas putida currently outperforms synthetic indigo production and other indigoidine-producing hosts, using glucose, xylose, and lignin-derived aromatics to produce indigoidine at a minimum selling price of $2.9/kg and a greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of 3.5 kgCO2e/kg. Optimizing pathways─achieving 90% of the theoretical indigoidine yield from sugars and aromatics─can reduce costs 6–7-fold and GHG emissions 3–10-fold. From a cost perspective, microbes that co-utilize aromatics are advantageous, while selecting hosts that coproduce other value-added molecules can reduce GHG emissions. System-wide improvements and the use of a low-cost, low-carbon nitrogen source are crucial for commercial viability in all cases.
BT - ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering DA - 03/03/2025 DO - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c09962 IS - 8 N2 -Indigoidine is a bioadvantaged platform molecule with diverse applications, including use as a textile dye, biotransistor, biosolar cell, biosensor, and food coloring. There are multiple microbial hosts and carbon sources that can be used and optimized for its production, yet there is limited guidance for which options have the greatest commercial potential. Here, we consider five different host microbes and combine genome-scale metabolic models with techno-economic and lifecycle assessment models. Pseudomonas putida currently outperforms synthetic indigo production and other indigoidine-producing hosts, using glucose, xylose, and lignin-derived aromatics to produce indigoidine at a minimum selling price of $2.9/kg and a greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint of 3.5 kgCO2e/kg. Optimizing pathways─achieving 90% of the theoretical indigoidine yield from sugars and aromatics─can reduce costs 6–7-fold and GHG emissions 3–10-fold. From a cost perspective, microbes that co-utilize aromatics are advantageous, while selecting hosts that coproduce other value-added molecules can reduce GHG emissions. System-wide improvements and the use of a low-cost, low-carbon nitrogen source are crucial for commercial viability in all cases.
PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) PY - 2025 SP - 3300 EP - 3310 T2 - ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering TI - Microbial Pathways for Cost-Effective Low-Carbon Renewable Indigoidine UR - https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.4c09962 VL - 13 SN - 2168-0485, 2168-0485 ER -