Review
Plant Sciences
Harry O. Jackson, Henry N. Taunt, Pawel M. Mordaka, Alison G. Smith, Saul Purton
Summary: In order to provide sustainable and economically viable support for the growing global population, a paradigm shift in agricultural productivity is necessary, including the use of biotechnology to produce future crop plants. Genetic engineering methods aimed at enhancing photosynthetic efficiency or altering the composition of harvested tissues may need to be replaced by new-to-nature pathways for significant step changes. Utilizing synthetic metabolism and reprogramming the metabolism of chloroplasts in plants through chloroplast and nuclear engineering may be essential for future advancements in agricultural productivity.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Nan Lil, Sakuya Nakamura, Silvia Ramundo, Yoshiki Nishimura, Shinya Hagihara, Masanori Izumi
Summary: The study investigated the role of autophagy in chloroplast protein degradation in Chlamydomonas cells, revealing that chloroplast proteotoxic stress induced by inhibition of intraorganellar protease led to transport of chloroplast proteins to vacuoles, which was delayed by autophagy inhibitors. The findings suggest that autophagy contributes to chloroplast protein degradation in Chlamydomonas cells.
PLANT AND CELL PHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Jia-Yi Lin, I-Son Ng
Summary: This study used genetic engineering to enhance the growth, lipid and lutein production of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. CRISPRi was applied to down-regulate the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC1) gene, resulting in increased carbon flux towards lipid synthesis. The engineered strain PGi showed the highest biomass, lipid and lutein production at 35°C.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jean-David Rochaix
Summary: This article presents a personal reminiscence of Paul Levine, a highly innovative scientist who made seminal contributions to photosynthesis. He established the green unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a model system for studying photosynthetic apparatus and its regulation through genetic approaches. His groundbreaking work on identifying the components and their genetic origins in the photosynthetic electron transport chain had a significant impact. He also trained many students and post-doctoral fellows who became prominent figures in this field and other areas of plant science.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Jia-Yi Lin, Sefli Sri Wahyu Effendi, I-Son Ng
Summary: This study explores the use of genetic modification to enhance CO2 capture and utilization in microalgae for increased biomass and product production. The results show that genetically modified C. reinhardtii can achieve maximum biomass, lutein, and lipid production under autotrophic conditions in a photo-bioreactor with 5% CO2, with improved CO2 assimilation rates.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Henry N. Taunt, Harry O. Jackson, isarr N. Gunnarsson, Rabbia Pervaiz, Saul Purton
Summary: ‘Marker-free’ strategies are used to create transgenic microorganisms without the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes. A new recipient line, HNT6, with an engineered deletion in exon 3 of psaA, was created for faster recovery of transformant colonies by selecting for light-tolerance on acetate-containing media. This new approach improves and accelerates the transformation pipeline for C. reinhardtii.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Kentaro Akiyama, Shin-Ichiro Ozawa, Yuichiro Takahashi, Keisuke Yoshida, Toshiharu Suzuki, Kumiko Kondo, Ken-ichi Wakabayashi, Toru Hisabori
Summary: Through the analysis of CFoCF1 in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, it was found that the & gamma; subunit is involved in the redox regulation of CFoCF1 during the light/dark transitions; a half day purification method for the entire CFoCF1 complex from C. reinhardtii was established, and ATP synthesis activity was examined using the acid-base transition method; based on mutation analysis, a model of redox regulation of the ATP synthesis reaction by the cooperative function of the & beta;-hairpin and the redox loop domains specific to CFoCF1 was proposed.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Michela Cecchin, Jooyeon Jeong, Woojae Son, Minjae Kim, Seunghye Park, Luca Zuliani, Stefano Cazzaniga, Andrea Pompa, Chan Young Kang, Sangsu Bae, Matteo Ballottari, EonSeon Jin
Summary: This study generated lpa2 knockout mutants in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using the CRISPR-Cas9 system and found that the absence of LPA2 protein resulted in impaired PSII assembly and function, leading to compromised photoautotrophic growth.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jingxian Zhang, Jiping Shi, Chenyang Yuan, Xiangcen Liu, Guilin Du, Ruimei Fan, Baoguo Zhang
Summary: This study investigated the role of miRNAs in lipid accumulation induced by nitrogen deprivation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. It identified a set of miRNAs that showed differential expression after nitrogen deprivation, suggesting their involvement in lipid transport and metabolism. The findings highlight the importance of miRNAs in microalgae lipid accumulation and provide theoretical guidance for bio-oil engineering production.
BIOENGINEERING-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Umaima Al Hoqani, Rosa Leon, Saul Purton
Summary: Terpenoids are a diverse class of naturally occurring compounds found in all living organisms. They have various applications but are produced in limited quantities in their natural hosts. This study focuses on using metabolic engineering technologies to produce terpenoids in the green alga C. reinhardtii. The overexpression of the DXS gene in C. reinhardtii resulted in changes in chlorophyll and carotenoid levels, indicating the potential for manipulating terpenoid biosynthesis in this model alga.
JOURNAL OF KING SAUD UNIVERSITY SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Jihye Yeon, Stephen M. M. Miller, Wipawee Dejtisakdi
Summary: Microalgae are a promising platform for producing valuable commercial products, and this study developed synthetic operon vectors to express multiple proteins from a single chloroplast transcription unit. The results showed successful expression of two proteins, but some coding sequences did not work well in synthetic operons in this alga.
Review
Cell Biology
Ulrich Kueck, Olga Schmitt
Summary: This article reviews RNA trans-splicing process in eukaryotes, focusing on trans-splicing of discontinuous group II introns in lower eukaryotes and plants' chloroplasts and mitochondria. It also discusses the origin of intronic sequences and the evolutionary relationship between chloroplast ribonucleoprotein complexes and the nuclear spliceosome.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Rabbia Pervaiz, Mohsin Ahmad Khan, Faiz Ahmed Raza, Sohail Ahmad, Ahmad Usman Zafar, Nadeem Ahmed, Maham Akram
Summary: This study explores the safe delivery of Cry toxins to mosquito larvae in aquatic habitats. It is found that incorporating Bt toxins in C. reinhardtii can enhance their toxicity. The experiments of stable expression in chloroplast and nuclear compartments demonstrate the feasibility of the C. reinhardtii chloroplast expression system for genetic engineering with Bt toxins.
JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Obed W. Odom, Seongjoon Kang, Caleb Ferguson, Carrie Chen, David L. Herrin
Summary: High-level expression of transgenes in the chloroplast of wild-type Chlamydomonas reinhardtii remains challenging. The bottleneck is post-transcriptional, mediated by the 5' element and the coding region. The fusion of the mature rps4 mRNA's 5' UTR with promoters improved the production of rCry11A protein.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Richa Amiya, Michal Shapira
Summary: The thylakoid membrane-associated protein ZnJ6 functions as an oxidizing chaperone in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, assisting in protein structure maintenance, preventing aggregation, and maintaining redox balance in cells.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)