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Navarrete A, Pollak B. Context-dependent antisense transcription from a neighboring gene interferes with the expression of mNeonGreen as a functional in vivo fluorescent reporter in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. THE PLANT JOURNAL : FOR CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2024; 119:2255-2272. [PMID: 39015950 DOI: 10.1111/tpj.16915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024]
Abstract
Advancing chloroplast genetic engineering in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii remains challenging, decades after its first successful transformation. This study introduces the development of a chloroplast-optimized mNeonGreen fluorescent reporter, enabling in vivo observation through a sixfold increase in fluorescence via context-aware construct engineering. Our research highlights the influence of transcriptional readthrough and antisense mRNA pairing on post-transcriptional regulation, pointing to novel strategies for optimizing heterologous gene expression. We further demonstrate the applicability of these insights using an accessible experimentation system using glass-bead transformation and reestablishment of photosynthesis using psbH mutants, focusing on the mitigation of transcriptional readthrough effects. By characterizing heterologous expression using regulatory elements such as PrrnS, 5'atpA, and 3' rbcL in a sense-transcriptional context, we further documented up to twofold improvement in fluorescence levels. Our findings contribute new tools for molecular biology research in the chloroplast and evidence fundamental gene regulation processes that could enable the development of more effective chloroplast engineering strategies. This work not only paves the way for more efficient genetic engineering of chloroplasts but also deepens our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms at play.
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Affiliation(s)
- Axel Navarrete
- Instituto Milenio de Biología Integrativa (iBio), Santiago, Chile
| | - Bernardo Pollak
- Instituto Milenio de Biología Integrativa (iBio), Santiago, Chile
- Fundación Ciencia y Vida, Santiago, Chile
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Goold HD, Moseley JL, Lauersen KJ. The synthetic future of algal genomes. CELL GENOMICS 2024; 4:100505. [PMID: 38395701 PMCID: PMC10943592 DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Revised: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
Algae are diverse organisms with significant biotechnological potential for resource circularity. Taking inspiration from fermentative microbes, engineering algal genomes holds promise to broadly expand their application ranges. Advances in genome sequencing with improvements in DNA synthesis and delivery techniques are enabling customized molecular tool development to confer advanced traits to algae. Efforts to redesign and rebuild entire genomes to create fit-for-purpose organisms currently being explored in heterotrophic prokaryotes and eukaryotic microbes could also be applied to photosynthetic algae. Future algal genome engineering will enhance yields of native products and permit the expression of complex biochemical pathways to produce novel metabolites from sustainable inputs. We present a historical perspective on advances in engineering algae, discuss the requisite genetic traits to enable algal genome optimization, take inspiration from whole-genome engineering efforts in other microbes for algal systems, and present candidate algal species in the context of these engineering goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugh D Goold
- New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia; ARC Center of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia; School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Jeffrey L Moseley
- California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Division of Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Phycoil Biotechnology International, Inc., Fremont, CA 94538, USA
| | - Kyle J Lauersen
- Bioengineering Program, Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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Cao K, Cui Y, Sun F, Zhang H, Fan J, Ge B, Cao Y, Wang X, Zhu X, Wei Z, Yao Q, Ma J, Wang Y, Meng C, Gao Z. Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology strategies for producing high-value natural pigments in Microalgae. Biotechnol Adv 2023; 68:108236. [PMID: 37586543 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2023.108236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2023] [Revised: 07/16/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023]
Abstract
Microalgae are microorganisms capable of producing bioactive compounds using photosynthesis. Microalgae contain a variety of high value-added natural pigments such as carotenoids, phycobilins, and chlorophylls. These pigments play an important role in many areas such as food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Natural pigments have a health value that is unmatched by synthetic pigments. However, the current commercial production of natural pigments from microalgae is not able to meet the growing market demand. The use of metabolic engineering and synthetic biological strategies to improve the production performance of microalgal cell factories is essential to promote the large-scale production of high-value pigments from microalgae. This paper reviews the health and economic values, the applications, and the synthesis pathways of microalgal pigments. Overall, this review aims to highlight the latest research progress in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology in constructing engineered strains of microalgae with high-value pigments and the application of CRISPR technology and multi-omics in this context. Finally, we conclude with a discussion on the bottlenecks and challenges of microalgal pigment production and their future development prospects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Cao
- School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China; School of Life Sciences and medicine, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Yulin Cui
- School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China
| | - Fengjie Sun
- Department of Biological Sciences, School of Science and Technology, Georgia Gwinnett College, Lawrenceville, GA 30043, USA
| | - Hao Zhang
- School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China
| | - Jianhua Fan
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Baosheng Ge
- State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing and Center for Bioengineering and Biotechnology, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China
| | - Yujiao Cao
- School of Foreign Languages, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255090, China
| | - Xiaodong Wang
- School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China
| | - Xiangyu Zhu
- School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China; School of Life Sciences and medicine, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Zuoxi Wei
- School of Life Sciences and medicine, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China
| | - Qingshou Yao
- School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China
| | - Jinju Ma
- School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China
| | - Yu Wang
- School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China
| | - Chunxiao Meng
- School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China.
| | - Zhengquan Gao
- School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264003, China.
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Ma K, Deng L, Wu H, Fan J. Towards green biomanufacturing of high-value recombinant proteins using promising cell factory: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast. BIORESOUR BIOPROCESS 2022; 9:83. [PMID: 38647750 PMCID: PMC10992328 DOI: 10.1186/s40643-022-00568-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Microalgae are cosmopolitan organisms in nature with short life cycles, playing a tremendous role in reducing the pressure of industrial carbon emissions. Besides, microalgae have the unique advantages of being photoautotrophic and harboring both prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression systems, becoming a popular host for recombinant proteins. Currently, numerous advanced molecular tools related to microalgal transgenesis have been explored and established, especially for the model species Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (C. reinhardtii hereafter). The development of genetic tools and the emergence of new strategies further increase the feasibility of developing C. reinhardtii chloroplasts as green factories, and the strong genetic operability of C. reinhardtii endows it with enormous potential as a synthetic biology platform. At present, C. reinhardtii chloroplasts could successfully produce plenty of recombinant proteins, including antigens, antibodies, antimicrobial peptides, protein hormones and enzymes. However, additional techniques and toolkits for chloroplasts need to be developed to achieve efficient and markerless editing of plastid genomes. Mining novel genetic elements and selectable markers will be more intensively studied in the future, and more factors affecting protein expression are urged to be explored. This review focuses on the latest technological progress of selectable markers for Chlamydomonas chloroplast genetic engineering and the factors that affect the efficiency of chloroplast protein expression. Furthermore, urgent challenges and prospects for future development are pointed out.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ke Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, People's Republic of China
| | - Lei Deng
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, People's Republic of China
| | - Haizhen Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, People's Republic of China.
- Department of Applied Biology, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, People's Republic of China.
| | - Jianhua Fan
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, People's Republic of China.
- Department of Applied Biology, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, People's Republic of China.
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, People's Republic of China.
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