A toolkit for <i>Nannochloropsis oceanica</i> CCMP1779 enables gene stacking and genetic engineering of the eicosapentaenoic acid pathway for enhanced long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid production

Poliner, Eric, Pulman, Jane A, Zienkiewicz, Krzysztof, Childs, Kevin, Benning, Christoph and Farre, Eva M (2018) A toolkit for <i>Nannochloropsis oceanica</i> CCMP1779 enables gene stacking and genetic engineering of the eicosapentaenoic acid pathway for enhanced long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid production. PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL, 16 (1). pp. 298-309.

Access the full-text of this item by clicking on the Open Access link.

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/pbi.12772

Abstract

Nannochloropsis oceanica is an oleaginous microalga rich in ω3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) content, in the form of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). We identified the enzymes involved in LC-PUFA biosynthesis in N. oceanica CCMP1779 and generated multigene expression vectors aiming at increasing LC-PUFA content in vivo. We isolated the cDNAs encoding four fatty acid desaturases (FAD) and determined their function by heterologous expression in S. cerevisiae. To increase the expression of multiple fatty acid desaturases in N. oceanica CCMP1779, we developed a genetic engineering toolkit that includes an endogenous bidirectional promoter and optimized peptide bond skipping 2A peptides. The toolkit also includes multiple epitopes for tagged fusion protein production and two antibiotic resistance genes. We applied this toolkit, towards building a gene stacking system for N. oceanica that consists of two vector series, pNOC-OX and pNOC-stacked. These tools for genetic engineering were employed to test the effects of the overproduction of one, two or three desaturase-encoding cDNAs in N. oceanica CCMP1779 and prove the feasibility of gene stacking in this genetically tractable oleaginous microalga. All FAD overexpressing lines had considerable increases in the proportion of LC-PUFAs, with the overexpression of Δ12 and Δ5 FAD encoding sequences leading to an increase in the final ω3 product, EPA.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Nannochloropsis, LC-PUFA, eicosapentaenoic acid, multigene expression, gene stacking, genetic engineering toolkit, 2A peptides, bidirectional promoters
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	06 Feb 2019 10:32
Last Modified:	13 Oct 2023 19:11
DOI:	10.1111/pbi.12772
Open Access URL:	https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.12772
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3032350