Increased poly-β-hydroxybutyrate production from carbon dioxide in randomly mutated cells of cyanobacterial strain Synechocystis sp. PCC 6714: Mutant generation and characterization

•UV mutagenesis makes poly-β-hydroxybutyrate production from CO2 economically feasible.•Remarkably increased growth and 2.5 fold higher poly-β-hydroxybutyrate productivity.•Higher efficiency of photosynthesis and CO2 uptake rate for the best mutant MT_a24.•UV-mutagenesis triggered amino acid change in PstA of MT_a24. Photosynthetic Poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) productivity in cyanobacteria needs to be increased to make cyanobacterial derived bioplastics economically feasible and competitive with petroleum-based plastics. In this study, high PHB yielding mutants of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6714 have been generated by random mutagenesis, using UV light as a mutagen. The selection of strains was based on PHB content induced by nitrogen and phosphorus starvation. The fast growing mutant MT_a24 exhibited more than 2.5-fold higher PHB productivity than that of the wild-type, attaining values of 37 ± 4% dry cell weight PHB. The MT_a24 was characterized for phenotypes, CO2 uptake rate and gene expression levels using quantitative PCR. Genome sequencing showed that UV mutagenesis treatment resulted in a point mutation in the ABC-transport complex, phosphate-specific transport system integral membrane protein A (PstA). The MT_a24 shows potential for industrial production of PHB and also for carbon capture from the atmosphere or point sources.