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mCherry Protein as an In Vivo Quantitative Reporter of Gene Expression in the Chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

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Abstract

Microalgal chloroplasts have a substantial potential as a sustainable alternative to conventional hosts for recombinant protein production, due to their photosynthetic ability. However, realization of microalgal chloroplast as a platform for the production of recombinant proteins has suffered from difficulties in genetic manipulation and development of molecular tools, including reporter proteins. Here, we investigated the suitability of a fluorescent protein, mCherry, as a reporter for quantitative in vivo monitoring of gene expression in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. By analyzing cell growth, the fluorescence intensity of a mCherry-expressing strain, as well as auto-fluorescence, under different photoautotrophic culture conditions, we demonstrated a strong correlation between the fluorescence intensity of mCherry expressed in the chloroplast and its protein expression level. In addition, we found that the supply of CO2 and light energy can be an important factor for the synthesis of recombinant proteins in the microalgal chloroplast. Our results identified mCherry as a reliable and quantitative reporter for the study of gene expression in chloroplasts, which is essential for the biotechnological application of microalgal chloroplasts and for improved production of valuable recombinant proteins.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the institutional project (Grant No. 2020M00600) from the National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea.

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  1. Department of Applied Research, National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea, Jangsan-ro 101-75, Seocheon-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, 33662, South Korea

    Sun Young Kim, Kyung Woo Kim, Yong Min Kwon & Jaoon Young Hwan Kim

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  1. Sun Young Kim
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Kim, S.Y., Kim, K.W., Kwon, Y.M. et al. mCherry Protein as an In Vivo Quantitative Reporter of Gene Expression in the Chloroplast of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Mol Biotechnol 62, 297–305 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-020-00249-9

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