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Immunoelectron microscopy for locating calvin cycle enzymes in the thylakoids of synechocystis 6803.

ABSTRACT: Unicellular cyanobacteria Synechocystis 6803 were fixed using high-pressure freezing (HPF) and freeze substitution without any chemical cross-linkers. Immunoelectron microscopy of these cells showed that five sequential enzymes of the Calvin cycle (phosphoriboisomerase, phosphoribulokinase, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO), 3-phosphoglyceratekinase and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) and the catalytic portion of the chloroplast H+-ATP synthase (CF1) are located adjacent to the thylakoid membranes. Cell-free extracts of Synechocystis were processed by ultracentrifugation to isolate thylakoid fractions sedimenting at 40,000, 90,000, and 150,000 g. Among these, the 150,000-g fraction showed the highest linked activity of the above five sequential Calvin cycle enzymes and also the highest coordinated activity of light and dark reactions as assessed by ribose-5-phosphate (R-5-P) +ADP dependent CO2 fixation. Immunogold labeling of this membrane fraction confirmed the presence of the above five enzymes as well as the catalytic portion of the CF1 ATP synthase. Notably, the protein A-gold labeling of the thylakoids was observed without use of chemical cross-linkers and in spite of the normal washing steps used during standard immunolabeling. The results showed that soluble Calvin cycle enzymes might be organized along the thylakoid membranes.

SUBMITTER: Agarwal R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2639730 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Immunoelectron microscopy for locating calvin cycle enzymes in the thylakoids of synechocystis 6803.

Agarwal Rachna R Ortleb Stefan S Sainis Jayashree Krishna JK Melzer Michael M

Molecular plant 20081128 1

Unicellular cyanobacteria Synechocystis 6803 were fixed using high-pressure freezing (HPF) and freeze substitution without any chemical cross-linkers. Immunoelectron microscopy of these cells showed that five sequential enzymes of the Calvin cycle (phosphoriboisomerase, phosphoribulokinase, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO), 3-phosphoglyceratekinase and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) and the catalytic portion of the chloroplast H+-ATP synthase (CF1) are located ...[more]

PMID: 19529819

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Project description:In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the research and development of sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. Using photosynthetic microorganisms to produce such alternatives is advantageous, since they can achieve direct conversion of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the desired product, using sunlight as the energy source. Squalene is a naturally occurring 30-carbon isoprenoid, which has commercial use in cosmetics and in vaccines. If it could be produced sustainably on a large scale, it could also be used instead of petroleum as a raw material for fuels and as feedstock for the chemical industry. The unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803 possesses a gene, slr2089, predicted to encode squalene hopene cyclase (Shc), an enzyme converting squalene into hopene, the substrate for forming hopanoids. Through inactivation of slr2089 (shc), we explored the possibility to produce squalene using cyanobacteria. The inactivation led to accumulation of squalene, to a level over 70 times higher than in wild type cells, reaching 0.67 mg OD750(-1) L(-1). We did not observe any significant growth deficiency in the Δshc strain compared to the wild type Synechocystis, even at high light conditions, suggesting that the observed squalene accumulation was not detrimental to growth, and that formation of hopene by Shc is not crucial for growth under normal conditions, nor for high-light stress tolerance. Effects of different light intensities and growth stages on squalene accumulation in the Δshc strain were investigated. We also identified a gene, sll0513, as a putative squalene synthase in Synechocystis, and verified its function by inactivation. In this work, we show that it is possible to use the cyanobacterium Synechocystis to generate squalene, a hydrocarbon of commercial interest and a potential biofuel. We also report the first identification of a squalene hopene cyclase, and the second identification of squalene synthase, in cyanobacteria.

Project description:BackgroundMetabolic engineering and synthetic biology of cyanobacteria offer a promising sustainable alternative approach for fossil-based ethylene production, by using sunlight via oxygenic photosynthesis, to convert carbon dioxide directly into ethylene. Towards this, both well-studied cyanobacteria, i.e., Synechocystis sp PCC 6803 and Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, have been engineered to produce ethylene by introducing the ethylene-forming enzyme (Efe) from Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola PK2 (the Kudzu strain), which catalyzes the conversion of the ubiquitous tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediate 2-oxoglutarate into ethylene.ResultsThis study focuses on Synechocystis sp PCC 6803 and shows stable ethylene production through the integration of a codon-optimized version of the efe gene under control of the Ptrc promoter and the core Shine-Dalgarno sequence (5'-AGGAGG-3') as the ribosome-binding site (RBS), at the slr0168 neutral site. We have increased ethylene production twofold by RBS screening and further investigated improving ethylene production from a single gene copy of efe, using multiple tandem promoters and by putting our best construct on an RSF1010-based broad-host-self-replicating plasmid, which has a higher copy number than the genome. Moreover, to raise the intracellular amounts of the key Efe substrate, 2-oxoglutarate, from which ethylene is formed, we constructed a glycogen-synthesis knockout mutant (ΔglgC) and introduced the ethylene biosynthetic pathway in it. Under nitrogen limiting conditions, the glycogen knockout strain has increased intracellular 2-oxoglutarate levels; however, surprisingly, ethylene production was lower in this strain than in the wild-type background.ConclusionMaking use of different RBS sequences, production of ethylene ranging over a 20-fold difference has been achieved. However, a further increase of production through multiple tandem promoters and a broad-host plasmid was not achieved speculating that the transcription strength and the gene copy number are not the limiting factors in our system.

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Immunoelectron microscopy for locating calvin cycle enzymes in the thylakoids of synechocystis 6803.

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Immunoelectron microscopy for locating calvin cycle enzymes in the thylakoids of synechocystis 6803.

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