气囊在细菌中的生理功能、生物合成及应用研究进展

气囊是在水生细菌中广泛存在的一种具有刚性中空蛋白结构的特殊细胞器,不仅为水生细菌提供浮力,还对其在不利环境或应激条件下的生存至关重要。近期研究发现在其他非水生细菌如沙雷氏菌和链霉菌中也存在气囊结构,而且表现出不同的生理功能。来源于不同种属细菌的气囊生物合成基因簇具有各自鲜明的特征,其生物合成和调控机制也有所不同。本综述将介绍和总结不同细菌中气囊的基本生理功能和生物合成及调控机制,以及气囊的生物技术应用,并对气囊在链霉菌中的生物合成研究以及人工重组气囊的潜在应用进行展望。

Physiological, biosynthetic and application studies of gas vesicles in bacteria: a review

Gas vesicles (GVs) are intracellular organelles with a rigid hollow structure completely composed of proteins. It can provide buoyancy for aquatic microorganisms, and is very important for their survival under adverse environment or stress conditions. In recent years, GVs with diverse functions in nonaquatic microorganisms such as Serratia and Streptomyces have also been reported. Gas vesicle biosynthetic gene clusters in different bacteria have presented distinct characteristics, as well as the corresponding regulation mechanisms for GVs biosynthesis. This review summarizes the basic characteristics of GVs from various bacterial species, including their fundamental physiological functions, biosynthetic and regulation mechanisms, as well as the applications of GVs in biotechnology. Finally, the biosynthetic studies of GVs in important industrial microorganism Streptomyces, and the potential applications of recombinant GVs are prospected.