Genetic systems in cyanobacteria

Responses of Membranes and the Photosynthetic Apparatus to Salt Stress in Cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria are autotrophs whose photosynthetic process is similar to that of higher plants, although the photosynthetic apparatus is slightly different. They have been widely used for decades as model systems for studying the principles of photosynthesis, especially the effects of environmental stress on photosynthetic activities. Salt stress, which is the most common abiotic stress in nature, combines ionic and osmotic stresses. High cellular ion concentrations and osmotic stress can alter normal metabolic processes and photosynthesis. Additionally, salt stress increases the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) contents. Excessive amounts of ROS will damage the photosynthetic apparatus, inhibit the synthesis of photosystem-related proteins, including the D1 protein, and destroy the thylakoid membrane structure, leading to inhibited photosynthesis. In this review, we mainly introduce the effects of salt stress on the cyanobacterial membranes and photosynthetic apparatus. We also describe specific salt tolerance mechanisms. A thorough characterization of the responses of membranes and photosynthetic apparatus to salt stress may be relevant for increasing agricultural productivity.

Comparative analysis of the primary transcriptome of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

RNA-seq and especially differential RNA-seq-type transcriptomic analyses (dRNA-seq) are powerful analytical tools, as they not only provide insights into gene expression changes but also provide detailed information about all promoters active at a given moment, effectively giving a deep insight into the transcriptional landscape. Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (Synechocystis 6803) is a unicellular model cyanobacterium that is widely used in research fields from ecology, photophysiology to systems biology, modelling and biotechnology. Here, we analysed the response of the Synechocystis 6803 primary transcriptome to different, environmentally relevant stimuli. We established genome-wide maps of the transcriptional start sites active under 10 different conditions relevant for photosynthetic growth and identified 4,091 transcriptional units, which provide information about operons, 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs). Based on a unique expression factor, we describe regulons and relevant promoter sequences at single-nucleotide resolution. Finally, we report several sRNAs with an intriguing expression pattern and therefore likely function, specific for carbon depletion (CsiR1), nitrogen depletion (NsiR4), phosphate depletion (PsiR1), iron stress (IsaR1) or photosynthesis (PsrR1). This dataset is accompanied by comprehensive information providing extensive visualization and data access to allow an easy-to-use approach for the design of experiments, the incorporation into modelling studies of the regulatory system and for comparative analyses.

Microevolution in cyanobacteria: re-sequencing a motile substrain of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 is a widely used model cyanobacterium for studying photosynthesis, phototaxis, the production of biofuels and many other aspects. Here we present a re-sequencing study of the genome and seven plasmids of one of the most widely used Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 substrains, the glucose tolerant and motile Moscow or 'PCC-M' strain, revealing considerable evidence for recent microevolution. Seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) specifically shared between 'PCC-M' and the 'PCC-N and PCC-P' substrains indicate that 'PCC-M' belongs to the 'PCC' group of motile strains. The identified indels and SNPs in 'PCC-M' are likely to affect glucose tolerance, motility, phage resistance, certain stress responses as well as functions in the primary metabolism, potentially relevant for the synthesis of alkanes. Three SNPs in intergenic regions could affect the promoter activities of two protein-coding genes and one cis-antisense RNA. Two deletions in 'PCC-M' affect parts of clustered regularly interspaced short palindrome repeats-associated spacer-repeat regions on plasmid pSYSA, in one case by an unusual recombination between spacer sequences.

Identification of substrain-specific mutations by massively parallel whole-genome resequencing of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

The cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, was the first photosynthetic organism whose genome sequence was determined in 1996 (Kazusa strain). It thus plays an important role in basic research on the mechanism, evolution, and molecular genetics of the photosynthetic machinery. There are many substrains or laboratory strains derived from the original Berkeley strain including glucose-tolerant (GT) strains. To establish reliable genomic sequence data of this cyanobacterium, we performed resequencing of the genomes of three substrains (GT-I, PCC-P, and PCC-N) and compared the data obtained with those of the original Kazusa strain stored in the public database. We found that each substrain has sequence differences some of which are likely to reflect specific mutations that may contribute to its altered phenotype. Our resequence data of the PCC substrains along with the proposed corrections/refinements of the sequence data for the Kazusa strain and its derivatives are expected to contribute to investigations of the evolutionary events in the photosynthetic and related systems that have occurred in Synechocystis as well as in other cyanobacteria.

Genetic transformation and mutagenesis via single-stranded DNA in the unicellular, diazotrophic cyanobacteria of the genus Cyanothece

We describe a genetic system for producing specific gene knockouts in Cyanothece sp. strain PCC 7822 using a single-stranded DNA technique (B. Zorin, P. Hegemann, and I. Sizova, Eukaryot. Cell 4:1264-1272, 2005). The first fully segregated mutant was a ΔnifK mutant, and it was unable to grow on medium lacking combined nitrogen and produced virtually no hydrogen.

Stress sensors and signal transducers in cyanobacteria

In living cells, the perception of environmental stress and the subsequent transduction of stress signals are primary events in the acclimation to changes in the environment. Some molecular sensors and transducers of environmental stress cannot be identified by traditional and conventional methods. Based on genomic information, a systematic approach has been applied to the solution of this problem in cyanobacteria, involving mutagenesis of potential sensors and signal transducers in combination with DNA microarray analyses for the genome-wide expression of genes. Forty-five genes for the histidine kinases (Hiks), 12 genes for serine-threonine protein kinases (Spks), 42 genes for response regulators (Rres), seven genes for RNA polymerase sigma factors, and nearly 70 genes for transcription factors have been successfully inactivated by targeted mutagenesis in the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Screening of mutant libraries by genome-wide DNA microarray analysis under various stress and non-stress conditions has allowed identification of proteins that perceive and transduce signals of environmental stress. Here we summarize recent progress in the identification of sensory and regulatory systems, including Hiks, Rres, Spks, sigma factors, transcription factors, and the role of genomic DNA supercoiling in the regulation of the responses of cyanobacterial cells to various types of stress.

Exploitation of genomic sequences in a systematic analysis to access how cyanobacteria sense environmental stress

The perception and subsequent transduction of environmental signals are primary events in the acclimation of living organisms to changes in their environment. Many of the molecular sensors and transducers of environmental stress cannot be identified by traditional and conventional methods. Therefore, the genomic information has been exploited in a systematic approach to this problem, performing systematic mutagenesis of potential sensors and transducers, namely, histidine kinases and response regulators, respectively, in combination with DNA microarray analysis, to examine the genome-wide expression of genes in the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Using targeted mutagenesis, 44 out of the 47 histidine kinases and 42 out of the 45 response regulators of this organism have successfully been inactivated. The resultant mutant libraries were screened by genome-wide DNA microarray analysis and by slot-blot hybridization analysis under various stress and non-stress conditions. Histidine kinases have been identified that perceive and transduce signals of low-temperature, hyperosmotic, and salt stress, as well as manganese deficiency.

Physiology and genetics of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria

Reduced inorganic sulfur compounds are oxidized by members of the domains Archaea and Bacteria. These compounds are used as electron donors for anaerobic phototrophic and aerobic chemotrophic growth, and are mostly oxidized to sulfate. Different enzymes mediate the conversion of various reduced sulfur compounds. Their physiological function in sulfur oxidation is considered (i) mostly from the biochemical characterization of the enzymatic reaction, (ii) rarely from the regulation of their formation, and (iii) only in a few cases from the mutational gene inactivation and characterization of the resulting mutant phenotype. In this review the sulfur-metabolizing reactions of selected phototrophic and of chemotrophic prokaryotes are discussed. These comprise an archaeon, a cyanobacterium, green sulfur bacteria, and selected phototrophic and chemotrophic proteobacteria. The genetic systems are summarized which are presently available for these organisms, and which can be used to study the molecular basis of their dissimilatory sulfur metabolism. Two groups of thiobacteria can be distinguished: those able to grow with tetrathionate and other reduced sulfur compounds, and those unable to do so. This distinction can be made irrespective of their phototrophic or chemotrophic metabolism, neutrophilic or acidophilic nature, and may indicate a mechanism different from that of thiosulfate oxidation. However, the core enzyme for tetrathionate oxidation has not been identified so far. Several phototrophic bacteria utilize hydrogen sulfide, which is considered to be oxidized by flavocytochrome c owing to its in vitro activity. However, the function of flavocytochrome c in vivo may be different, because it is missing in other hydrogen sulfide-oxidizing bacteria, but is present in most thiosulfate-oxidizing bacteria. A possible function of flavocytochrome c is discussed based on biophysical studies, and the identification of a flavocytochrome in the operon encoding enzymes involved in thiosulfate oxidation of Paracoccus denitrificans. Adenosine-5'-phosphosulfate reductase thought to function in the 'reverse' direction in different phototrophic and chemotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria was analysed in Chromatium vinosum. Inactivation of the corresponding gene does not affect the sulfite-oxidizing ability of the mutant. This result questions the concept of its 'reverse' function, generally accepted for over three decades.

Gene transfer and manipulation in the thermophilic cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus

DNA can be introduced into the thermophilic cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus by electroporation or conjugation. Its genome can be readily manipulated through integrative transformation or by using promiscuous RSF1010-derived plasmids that can be transferred unaltered between Escherichia coli and Synechococcus elongatus. These vectors can therefore be used for in vivo studies of cyanobacterial proteins in both mesophilic and thermophilic cyanobacterial backgrounds. As a preliminary step towards the analysis of structure-function relationships of photosystem I (PSI) from this thermophile, the genes encoding the PSI subunits PsaF, PsaL, and PsaK were inactivated and shown to be non-essential in S. elongatus. In addition, PSI reaction centres were extracted from a psaL- strain exclusively as monomeric complexes.

Cloning of omega 3 desaturase from cyanobacteria and its use in altering the degree of membrane-lipid unsaturation

Cyanobacteria respond to a decrease in temperature by desaturating fatty acids of membrane lipids to compensate for the decrease in membrane fluidity. Among various desaturation reactions in cyanobacteria, the desaturation of the omega 3 position of fatty acids is the most sensitive to the change in temperature. In the present study, we isolated a gene, designated desB, for the omega 3 desaturase from the cyanobacterium, Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The desB gene encodes a protein a 359 amino-acid residues with molecular mass of 41.9 kDa. The desB gene is transcribed as a monocistronic operon that produced a single transcript of 1.4 kb. The level of the desB transcript in cells grown at 22 degrees C was 10 times higher than that in cells grown at 34 degrees C. In order to manipulate the fatty-acid unsaturation of membrane lipids, the desB gene in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was mutated by insertion of a kanamycin-resistance gene cartridge. The resultant mutant was unable to desaturate fatty acids at the omega 3 position. The desA gene, which encodes the delta 12 desaturase of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, and the desB gene were introduced into Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942. Whilst the parent cyanobacterium can only desaturate membrane lipids at the delta 9 position of fatty acids, the resultant transformant was able to desaturate fatty acids of membrane lipids at the delta 9, delta 12 and omega 3 positions. These results confirm the function of the desB gene and demonstrate that it is possible to genetically manipulate the fatty-acid unsaturation of membrane lipids in cyanobacteria.

Identification of conserved domains in the delta 12 desaturases of cyanobacteria

Cyanobacterial genes for enzymes that desaturate fatty acids at the delta 12 position, designated desA, were isolated from Synechocystis PCC6714, Synechococcus PCC7002 and Anabaena variabilis by cross-hybridization with a DNA probe derived from the desA gene of Synechocystis PCC6803. The genes of Synechocystis PCC6714, Synechococcus PCC7002 and A. variabilis encode proteins of 349, 347 and 350 amino acid residues, respectively. The transformation of Synechococcus PCC7942 with the desA genes from Synechocystis PCC6714, Synechococcus PCC7002 and A. variabilis was associated with the ability to introduce a second double bond at the delta 12 position of fatty acids. The amino acid sequence of the products of the desA genes revealed the presence of four conserved domains. Since one of the conserved domains was also found in the amino acid sequences of omega 3 desaturases of Brassica napus and mung bean, this domain may play an essential role in the introduction of a double bond into fatty acids bound to membrane lipids.

Mosquitocidal toxins of bacilli and their genetic manipulation for effective biological control of mosquitoes

The identification, cloning, and characterization of protein toxins from various species of bacilli have demonstrated the existence of mosquitocidal toxins with different structures, mechanisms of action, and host ranges. A start has been made in understanding the polypeptide determinants of toxicity and insecticidal activity, and the purification of toxins from recombinant organisms may lead to the elucidation of their X-ray crystal structures and the cloning of brush border membrane receptors. The results of cloning mosquitocidal toxins in heterologous microorganisms show the potential of expanding the range of susceptible mosquito species by combining several toxins of different host specificity in one cell. Toxins have been expressed in new microorganisms with the potential for increasing potency by persisting at the larval feeding zone. The powerful tools of bacterial genetics are being applied to engineer genetically stable, persistent toxin expression and expand the insecticidal host ranges of Bacillus sphaericus and Bacillus thuringiensis strains. These techniques, together with modern formulation technology, should eventually lead to the construction of mosquitocidal microorganisms which are effective enough to have a real impact on mosquito-borne diseases.