Fig. 4

Influence of the duration of sub-cultivation of the engineered Synechocystis strains on terpene production. Cells sub-cultured under standard photoautotrophic conditions for variable periods of time (up to 5–9 months) were then grown under dodecane (20%, vol/vol) to assay terpene production during 17–21 days (Exp stands for experiment). A Limonene production by the pCLS strain sub-cultivated for various durations (up to 5 months) before testing. B Regular assays of α-bisabolene production by the pCBS strain sub-cultivated over a 5-month period of tests. C Regular tests of farnesene production by the pCFS strain sub-cultivated up to 9 months. D Regular tests of the production of α-santalene, α-exo-bergamotene and epi-β-santalene by the pCSS strain sub-cultivated up to 9 months. Error bars represent standard deviation from n ≥ 2 biological replicates