Relaxation, linearization and fragmentation of supercoiled circular DNA by tungsten microprojectiles

Editing of the urease gene by CRISPR-Cas in the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana

BACKGROUND

CRISPR-Cas is a recent and powerful addition to the molecular toolbox which allows programmable genome editing. It has been used to modify genes in a wide variety of organisms, but only two alga to date. Here we present a methodology to edit the genome of Thalassiosira pseudonana, a model centric diatom with both ecological significance and high biotechnological potential, using CRISPR-Cas.

RESULTS

A single construct was assembled using Golden Gate cloning. Two sgRNAs were used to introduce a precise 37 nt deletion early in the coding region of the urease gene. A high percentage of bi-allelic mutations (≤61.5%) were observed in clones with the CRISPR-Cas construct. Growth of bi-allelic mutants in urea led to a significant reduction in growth rate and cell size compared to growth in nitrate.

CONCLUSIONS

CRISPR-Cas can precisely and efficiently edit the genome of T. pseudonana. The use of Golden Gate cloning to assemble CRISPR-Cas constructs gives additional flexibility to the CRISPR-Cas method and facilitates modifications to target alternative genes or species.

Does speciation matter for tungsten ecotoxicology?

Tungsten is a widely used transition metal that has not been thoroughly investigated with regards to its ecotoxicological effects. Tungsten anions polymerize in environmental systems as well as under physiological conditions in living organisms. These polymerization/condensation reactions result in the development of several types of stable polyoxoanions. Certain chemical properties (in particular redox and acidic properties) differentiate these polyanions from monotungstates. However, our current state of knowledge on tungsten toxicology, biological and environmental effects is based entirely on experiments where monotungstates were used and assumed by the authors to be the form of tungsten that was present and that produced the observed effect. Recent discoveries indicate that tungsten speciation may be important to ecotoxicology. New results obtained by different research groups demonstrate that polytungstates develop and persist in environmental systems, and that polyoxotungstates are much more toxic than monotungstates. This paper reviews the available toxicological information from the standpoint of tungsten speciation and identifies knowledge gaps and pertinent future research directions.

Optimization of the transient transformation of Catharanthus roseus cells by particle bombardment and its application to the subcellular localization of hydroxymethylbutenyl 4-diphosphate synthase and geraniol 10-hydroxylase

The monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIA) synthesized in Catharanthus roseus are highly valuable metabolites due to their pharmacological properties. In planta, the MIA biosynthetic pathway exhibits a complex compartmentation at the cellular level, whereas subcellular data are sparse. To gain insight into this level of organization, we have developed a high efficiency green fluorescent protein (GFP) imaging approach to systematically localize MIA biosynthetic enzymes within C. roseus cells following a biolistic-mediated transient transformation. The biolistic transformation protocol has been first optimized to obtain a high number of transiently transformed cells with a ~12-fold increase compared to previous protocols and thus to clearly and easily identify the fusion GFP expression patterns in numerous cells. On the basis of this protocol, the subcellular localization of hydroxymethylbutenyl 4-diphosphate synthase (HDS), a methyl erythritol phosphate pathway enzyme and geraniol 10-hydroxylase (G10H), a monoterpene-secoiridoid pathway enzyme has been next characterized. Besides showing the accumulation of HDS within plastids of C. roseus cells, we also provide evidences of the presence of HDS in long stroma-filled thylakoid-free extensions budding from plastids, i.e. stromules that are in close association with other organelles such as endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or mitochondria in agreement with their proposed function in enhancing interorganelle metabolite exchanges. Furthermore, we also demonstrated that G10H is an ER-anchored protein, consistent with the presence of a transmembrane helix at the G10H N-terminal end, which is both necessary and sufficient to drive the ER anchoring.

The Particle Inflow Gun can be used to Co-transform Paramecium using Tungsten Particles

A particle inflow gun (PIG) was constructed and tested for its utility to transform Paramecium using tungsten or gold as the DNA carrier particle. In the first set of experiments we transformed Paramecium with a plasmid containing the neomycin-resistance gene, obtaining a transformation efficiency of 0.31+/-0.14% (mean+/-SD) for tungsten particles and 1.30+/-0.29% for gold particles. Plasmid DNA precipitated upon tungsten was shown to be stable for transformation purposes for up to 1 h prior to use and had no detectable effects on transformation efficiency. In addition, we demonstrated that at high frequency (71+/-20%) a Paramecium mutant strain could be phenotypically rescued by co-transformation with a second plasmid containing the selectable neomycin-resistance gene. The PIG coupled with tungsten particles as the carrier offers a low-cost alternative for biolistic transformation of Paramecium.

Tungsten particle-induced nicking of supercoiled plasmid DNA

Small particles of metallic tungsten, known also as tungsten microprojectiles, are routinely used for biotechnological purposes. In such applications, tungsten was observed to affect the integrity of plasmid DNA. Here we present evidence that interaction between tungsten particles and intact circular plasmids pU19, pUC119, and ColE1 may result in generation of a limited number of single-strand DNA breaks. As a consequence, supercoiled DNA is converted into its open circular form and no fragmentation products can be detected. The rate of the tungsten-mediated reaction depends on pH but is not influenced by ascorbate, Tris, or EDTA. No DNA nicking can be observed when the tungsten particles are replaced by substances that can be leached out from these particles with water or incubation buffers. Likewise, commercial sodium tungstate, tungsten (VI) oxide, and tungsten (VI) chloride and products of its decomposition remain DNA undamaged. Native plasmid DNA molecules, upon adsorption on the surface of tungsten microparticles, may undergo some nicking without a need for participation of external catalysts.