The Transformation of the Unicellular Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by Electroporation

The cell wall–lacking mutant CW-15 of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was transformed by electroporation using plasmid pCTVHyg, which was constructed with the hygromycin phosphotransferase genehpt as the selective marker and the Tn₅ transposon of Escherichia coli under the control of the virus SV40 early gene promoter. Under optimal conditions (10⁶ mid-exponential cells/ml; electric field strength 1 kV/cm; and pulse length 2 ms), the transformation yielded 10³ Hyg^R transformants per 10⁶ recipient cells. The exogenous DNA integrated into the nuclear genome of Ch. reinhardtii was persistently inherited through more than 350 cell generations. The advantages of this system for the transformation ofCh. reinhardtii with heterologous genes are discussed.     

莱茵衣藻Nfr-4突变株中类胡萝卜素含量的变化及其对藻生长的影响

文章对相同条件下培养的莱茵衣藻野生型CC-137和八氢番茄红素脱氢酶(phytoene desaturase,PDS)基因突变株Nfr-4的生长进行分析;并用反相高效液相色谱分析总有色类胡萝卜素以及叶绿素含量变化,结果表明两者生长的差异明显;Nfr-4突变株的单细胞叶绿素和总有色类胡萝卜素含量高于野生型CC-137的。     

豆血红蛋白基因lba的克隆及其转化衣藻叶绿体

降低细胞内的氧气含量是提高莱茵衣藻产氢效率的重要手段之一。本研究首次尝试将豆血红蛋白基因lba转入衣藻叶绿体中表达,利用豆血红蛋白具有与氧可逆结合的特性,期望降低转基因衣藻细胞内的氧气含量,达到提高衣藻产氢效率的目的。实验结果证明,lba成功转入到衣藻叶绿体中,且对其生长没有产生显著影响,这为下一步调控Lba在衣藻叶绿体中表达活性和提高衣藻产氢效率奠定了实验基础。     

莱茵衣藻血红素加氧酶1过表达载体的构建和遗传转化

莱茵衣藻(Chlamydomonas reinhardti)是一种3套基因组都能进行遗传转化的真核生物,作为一种模式生物,它被用于生物学研究的各个领域。目前,发现血红素加氧酶具有多种功能活性,但关于它的作用机理还不是很清楚。本研究利用分子生物学技术,构建了莱茵衣藻HO-1过表达载体,用SpeI和BglII双酶切,DNA测序,GUS染色,PCR检测证明表达载体构建成功。将此构建通过农杆菌介导法导入莱茵衣藻细胞中,获得了能够稳定遗传的转化子。上述结果为后续进一步的功能研究奠定基础。     

Recombination and heterologous expression of allophycocyanin gene in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Heterogeneous expression of multiple genes in the nucleus of transgenic plants requires the introduction of an individual gene and the subsequent backcross to reconstitute multi-subunit proteins or metabolic pathways. In order to accomplish the expression of multiple genes in a single transformation event, we inserted both large and small subunits of allophycocyanin gene （apcA and apcB） into Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast expression vector, resulting in papc-S. The constructed vector was then introduced into the chloroplast of C. reinhardtii by micro-particle bombardment. Polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot analysis revealed that the two genes had integrated into the chloroplast genome. Western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that the two genes from the prokaryotic cyanobacteria could be correctly expressed in the chloroplasts of C. reinhardtii. The expressed foreign protein in transformants accounted for about 2%-3% of total soluble proteins. These findings pave the way to the reconstitution of multi-subunit proteins or metabolic pathways in transgenic C. reinhardtii chloroplasts in a single transformation event.     

Recombination and Heterologous Expression of Aliophycocyanin Gene in the Chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Heterogeneous expression of multiple genes in the nucleus of transgenic plants requires theintroduction of an individual gene and the subsequent backcross to reconstitute multi-subunit proteins ormetabolic pathways.In order to accomplish the expression of multiple genes in a single transformationevent,we inserted both large and small subunits of allophycocyanin gene (apcA and apcB) into Chlamydomonasreinhardtii chloroplast expression vector,resulting in papc-S.The constructed vector was then introducedinto the chloroplast of C.reinhardtii by micro-particle bombardment.Polymerase chain reaction and Southernblot analysis revealed that the two genes had integrated into the chloroplast genome.Western blot andenzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed that the two genes from the prokaryotic cyanobacteria couldbe correctly expressed in the chloroplasts of C.reinhardtii.The expressed foreign protein in transformantsaccounted for about 2%-3% of total soluble proteins.These findings pave the way to the reconstitution ofmulti-subunit proteins or metabolic pathways in transgenic C.reinhardtii chloroplasts in a single transformationevent.     

转基因衣藻lba及对照藻产氢培养条件的优化

通过对莱茵衣藻849及其转基因衣藻lba进行光照强度、细胞浓度和培养基中硫酸盐含量三因素三水平的正交实验,确定了两个藻种的最佳产氢条件,同时对转基因藻和849产氢培养条件下的光合放氧速率和pH进行了检测。实验结果表明,在25 ℃下,莱茵衣藻849和转基因衣藻lba的最佳产氢条件都为光照强度 60μmol/(m²·s),细胞浓度为叶绿素含量12.5μg/ml,培养基中硫酸盐含量0μmol/L。莱茵衣藻849和转基因衣藻lba的最高氢气产量分别达到了349μl/mg chlorophyll 和634μl/mg chlorophyll。在产氢条件下,转基因藻lba的净光合放氧速率比849低。结果为利用豆血红蛋白特性通过基因工程手段提高莱茵衣藻产氢量提供基础实验数据。     

淀粉合成受限的莱茵衣藻的甘油酯酰基的变化

【目的】基于突变藻株本身属性和意义出发,考察在两种常用培养方式下莱茵衣藻淀粉突变株(CC-4326)与野生型藻株(CC-137)在甘油酯中酰基随生长的变化差异,为进一步认识莱茵衣藻突变株提供参考信息。【方法】分别在柱状鼓泡式反应器和摇瓶中培养CC-4326和CC-137,比较两株藻在正常培养和氮胁迫培养状态下甘油酯中酰基相对含量和其在甘油三酯(TAG)含量的差异。【结果】正常培养状态下,CC-4326和CC-137中多不饱和酰基C16:4和C18:3相对含量占总酰基45%左右,CC-4326在两种培养方式下这两个酰基含量及变化无差别,而CC-137在摇瓶中培养二者相对含量增加幅度和含量均高于反应器。缺氮条件下两种藻株积累TAG,但程度不同,CC-4326在反应器中培养TAG含量达到CC-137的1.5倍,在摇瓶中培养含量与CC-137无显著差异,两株藻的甘油酯和TAG中C18:1含量显著增加,CC-4326在反应器中培养C18:1增加幅度大于摇瓶,比摇瓶培养更快速积累TAG。而CC-137在摇瓶中培养TAG含量与反应器接近,单不饱和酰基增加幅度却高于反应器,表明CC-137在摇瓶中培养比反应器更利于积累TAG。最终,CC-4326在光生物反应器中缺氮培养实现了TAG 12倍的增加。【结论】通过对淀粉合成抑制,与CC-137相比,缺氮光生物反应器培养条件下,CC-4326能够实现TAG的高效积累。     

Mutation of Residue Arginine~(18)of Cytochrome b_(559)a-Subunit and its Effects on Photosystem II Activities in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

It has been known that arginine is used as the basic amino acid in the a-subunit of cytochrome b_(559)(Cyt b_(559)) excepthistidine. However, previous studies have focused on the function of histidine in the activities of photosystem (PS) II andthere are no reports regarding the structural and/or functional roles of arginine in PSII complexes. In the present study,two arginine (R18) mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii were constructed using site-directed mutagenesis, in whichR18 was replaced by glutamic acid (E) and glycine (G). The results show that the oxygen evolution of the PSII complexin the R18G and R18E mutants was approximately 60% of wild-type (WT) levels and that, after irradiation at high lightintensity, oxygen evolution for the PSII of mutants was reduced to zero compared with 40% in WT cells. The efficiency oflight capture by PSII (F_v/F_m) of R18G and R18E mutants was approximately 42%-46% that of WT cells. Furthermore, levelsof the a-subunit of Cyt b_(559) and PsbO proteins were reduced in thylakoid membranes compared with WT. Overall, thesedata suggest that R18 plays a significant role in helping Cyt b_559 maintain the structure of the PSII complex and its activity,although it is not directly bound to the heme group.     

Occurrence of an NADH diaphorase activity associated with xanthine dehydrogenase in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Wild-type Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells exhibited a peculiar NADH-nitrobluetetrazolium reductase (NADH diaphorase) activity when grown under conditions in which xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) is present. This XDH-coinduced diaphorase was electrophoretically distinguishable from constitutive diaphorases, showed the same mobility as XDH and could be assayed in vitro with dichlorophenol indophenol. Mutant strains 102, 104 and 307 of Chlamydomonas which lack XDH did not exhibit XDH-coinduced diaphorase. Heat treatment of crude extracts or partial purification of XDH inactivated or removed all constitutive diaphorases and left significant levels of XDH-coinduced diaphorase which remained always associated with XDH. These results demonstrate that XDH from C. reinhardtii, like other organisms, is also capable of catalyzing NADH oxidation.     

SMART技术构建衣藻细胞的酵母双杂交文库

衣藻是用来研究植物光合作用和动物纤毛常用的模式生物.为了研究蛋白质之间的相互作用,利用SMART技术构建了衣藻的酵母双杂交文库.使用Trizol试剂提取鞭毛再生过程和光周期培养的细胞进入分裂前的衣藻细胞的总RNA,经过Oligotex纯化得到mRNA;应用SMART技术和LD-PCR合成双链cDNA,经过CHROMA SPIN TE-400柱子去除短片段的cDNA;cDNA和线性化载体pGADT7-Rec共转化酵母Y187构建酵母双杂交文库.库容达到3.0 × 106CFU,重组率为70％,插入片段平均长度为0.6 kb.以上结果说明该文库质量较好,能够通过筛选文库得到与目的蛋白互相作用的蛋白质,为寻找蛋白质的作用伴侣打下基础.     

Molecular analysis of the acetolactate synthase gene of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and development of a genetically engineered gene as a dominant selectable marker for genetic transformation

Genomic and cDNA clones of the acetolactate synthase (ALS) gene of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii have been isolated from a mutant, c85-20 (Hartnett et al., 1987), that is resistant to high concentrations of sulfometuron methyl (SMM) and related sulfonylurea herbicides. Comparison of the ALS gene sequences from the wild-type and the SMM resistant (SMMr) strains revealed two amino acid differences in the mature enzyme, a lysine to threonine change at position 257 (K257T) and a leucine to valine change at position 294 (L294V). Transformation of wild-type C. reinhardtii with the mutant ALS gene produced no transformants with ability to grow in the presence of a minimum toxic concentration of SMM (3 microm). Substitution of the ALS promoter with the promoter of the C. reinhardtii Rubisco small subunit gene (RbcS2) permitted recovery of SMMr colonies. In vitro mutagenesis of the wild-type ALS gene to produce various combinations of mutations (K257T, L294V and W580L) indicated that the K257T mutation was necessary and sufficient to confer the SMMr phenotype. Optimum transformation rates were obtained with two constructs (pJK7 and pRP-ALS) in which all introns in the coding region were present. Rates of transformation with construct pJK7 were approximately 2.5 x 10-4 transformants/cell (i.e. one transformant for each of 4000 initial cells) using electroporation and 8.5 x 10-6 transformants/cell using the glass bead vortexing method. These results suggest that pJK7 and pRP-ALS can serve as important additional dominant selectable markers for the genetic transformation of C. reinhardtii.     

酵母细胞的电击高频转化

用Ｂｉｏ－Ｒａｄ生产的基因脉冲仪进行酿酒酵母电击转化实验,得到的最适条件为：５ｋｖ／ｃｍ２５μＦ和２００Ω。电击后涂布前的培养时间为２小时。电击后细胞存活率为４６％时,每微克质粒ＤＮＡ得到１０６以上的转化子。用相同的质粒和受体菌进行原生质体法和醋酸锂法比较实验,转化率分别为２×１０４和３．５×１０２个转化子／μｇＤＮＡ。电击转化是最方便易行和高效率的方法。     

Transformation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii CW-15 with the hygromycin phosphotransferase gene as a selective marker

To transform Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Dang. Cells, plasmid pCTVHyg was constructed with the use of the Escherichia coli hygromycin phosphotransferase gene (hpt) controlled by the SV40 early promoter. Cells of the CW-15 mutant strain were transformed by electroporation, with the yield reaching 10(3) hygromycin-resistant (HygR) clones per 10(6) recipient cells. The exogenous DNA integrated in the Ch. reinhardtii nuclear genome showed stable transmission for approximately 350 cell generations, while hygromycin resistance was expressed as an unstable character. Codon usage was compared for the hpt gene and Ch. reinhardtii nuclear genes. The results testified that codon usage bias, which is characteristic of Ch. reinhardtii, is not the major factor affecting foreign gene expression. The advantages of the selective system for studying Ch. reinhardtii transformation with heterologous genes are discussed.     

不同培养条件下莱茵衣藻细胞中SGAT酶活性的变化

利用模式单细胞植物莱茵衣藻,研究不同培养条件下细胞中丝氨酸：乙醛酸氨基转移酶活性的变化情况。结果表明：莱茵衣藻SGAT酶活性的最适pH介于5￣7之间,当pH高于7以后,酶活性逐渐下降;随着细胞密度增加,SGAT酶活性降低;光强可显著影响SGAT酶活性,在一定光强范围内,随着光照强度的增加,酶活性增强;乙酸作为莱茵衣藻的唯一异养碳源也会影响SGAT酶活性,两者间呈正相关;提高氧浓度,显著地提高了细胞内SGAT的酶活性;当二氧化碳浓度增加时,细胞内SGAT的酶活性也略有升高;40℃高温和15℃低温处理后,SGAT酶活性均降低。此外,提高氧浓度时细胞内Gly含量增加,Ser含量减少,Gly/Ser的比值从0.79提高到1.49。     

Isolation of a cDNA fragment coding for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii ferredoxin and expression of the recombinant protein in Escherichia coli.

A cDNA clone coding for mature C. reinhardtii ferredoxin has been isolated from a cDNA library using PCR and two oligonucleotide primers based on the N- and C-termini of the protein's amino acid sequence. The nucleotidic sequence of the PCR fragment (299 bp) agreed well with the amino acid sequence since a single conservative substitution (Thr-7 to Ser) could be deduced. The PCR fragment was inserted into the expression vector pTrc 99A, using the incorporated NcoI and BamHI restriction sites and the construction used to transform E. coli (DH5 F′). After subsequent large scale expression and purification of the recombinant protein, biochemical and biophysical analysis have indicated that the product isolated from E. coli is homologous to native ferredoxin isolated from green algae.     

莱茵衣藻(Chlamydomonas reinhardtii)nfr基因的显隐性突变性质及其与叶绿体psbA基因之间的相互作用分析

通过对莱茵衣藻(Chlamydomonas reinhardtii)nfrl Nfr杂合二倍体的表型分析证明,nfr基因是隐性突变基因,Nfr-4和Nfr-5突变株对达草灭的抗性是由nfr-1和nfr-2两个不同核基因的隐性突变所导致。psbA基因突变株品系与野生型品系CC-124和nfr基因突变株进行杂交并对其后代进行的四分子分析结果表明：在光养条件下,叶绿体psbA基因突变株品系对达草灭的敏感性是psbA突变等位基因的多效效应;而在混合营养条件下,叶绿体基因组对达草灭抗性性状也产生一定影响。达草灭抗性突变株品系对抗菌素类的交叉抗性性质进行的检测实验结果中发现,Nfr-3对红霉素和链霉素具有一定的交叉抗性,预测,对八氢番茄红素脱饱和酶的抑制剂的抗性性状的决定对叶绿体蛋白质的形成可能起作用。     

Proteins reacting with anti-spectrin antibodies are present in Chlamydomonas Cells.

It was found either in Western-blot analysis or in indirect immunofluorescence microscopy that cells of the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardhi contain polypeptides cross-reactng with antibodies directed against red blood cell spectrin. The protein could also be detected by immunoprecipitation with anti-spectrin antibodies. C. reinhardtii cells contain distinct polypeptide chains reacting with antibodies directed against either α- or β- spectrin subunits. This protein was extracted from the cells with low ionic strength solution but was not with nonionic detergent.     

衣藻叶绿体分裂基因CrFtsZ1在E.coli中的表达

FtsZ蛋白在细菌的分裂中起着重要作用,能够在分裂位点形成一个环状结构而控制细菌的分裂过程。细胞内FtsZ蛋白浓度的明显降低或异常升高均可阻断正常的细胞分裂过程进而导致丝状菌体的产生。为了研究衣藻叶绿体分裂基因ftsZ的功能,构建了衣藻CrFtsZ1的原核表达重组质粒。试验结果表明,衣藻ftsZ的表达严重影响了大肠杆菌的分裂,初步证明衣藻FtsZ蛋白不仅与E．coli FtsZ蛋白在序列上相似,而且也有着相似的功能,同时这一结果也为真核细胞中质体的内共生起源提供了直接的证据。