We investigated effects of malic enzyme on ethanol production by Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 under autotrophic conditions. Deletion of me, which encodes malic enzyme, decreased ethanol production, whereas its overexpression had no effect. Our results suggest that maintaining optimal malic enzyme activity controls ethanol production by Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. (C) 2014, The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. All rights reserved.