Chemical induction is one of the most common modalities used to manipulate gene expression in living systems. However, chemical induction can be toxic or expensive that compromise the economic feasibility when it comes to industrial-scale synthetic biology applications. These complications have driven the pursuit of better induction systems. Optogenetics technique can be a solution as it not only enables dynamic control with unprecedented spatiotemporal precision but also is inexpensive and eco-friendlier. The optogenetic technique harnesses natural light-sensing modules that are genetically encodable and re-programmable in various hosts. By further engineering these modules to connect with the microbial regulatory machinery, gene expression and protein activity can be finely tuned simply through light irradiation. Recent works on applying optogenetics to microbial synthetic biology have yielded remarkable achievements. To further expand the usability of optogenetics, more optogenetic tools with greater portability that are compatible with different microbial hosts need to be developed. This review focuses on non-opsin optogenetic systems and the current state of optogenetic advancements in microbes, by showcasing the different designs and functions of optogenetic tools, followed by an insight into the optogenetic approaches used to circumvent challenges in synthetic biology.

化学诱导是用于在生命系统中操纵基因表达的最常见方式之一。然而，在工业规模的合成生物学应用中，化学诱导可能是有毒的或昂贵的，这会损害经济可行性。这些并发症推动了对更好的感应系统的追求。光遗传学技术可以成为一种解决方案，因为它不仅能够以前所未有的时空精度实现动态控制，而且价格低廉且更环保。光遗传学技术利用可在各种宿主中进行基因编码和重新编程的自然光传感模块。通过进一步设计这些模块以与微生物调节机制连接，基因表达和蛋白质活性可以通过光照射进行微调。最近将光遗传学应用于微生物合成生物学的工作取得了显著成果。为了进一步扩展光遗传学的可用性，需要开发更多具有更大便携性且与不同微生物宿主兼容的光遗传学工具。本综述通过展示光遗传学工具的不同设计和功能，重点关注非视蛋白光遗传学系统和微生物光遗传学进展的现状，然后深入了解用于规避合成生物学挑战的光遗传学方法。