The Analysis of Regulatory Mutants of Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 by Global Transcription Profiling
Open Access
- Author:
- Chew, Chyue Yie
- Area of Honors:
- Biotechnology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Donald Ashley Bryant, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Teh-hui Kao, Thesis Honors Advisor
Dr. Wendy Hanna-Rose, Faculty Reader - Keywords:
- Cyanobacteria
Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002
transcription profiling
transcription regulators
sigma factors - Abstract:
- Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 is a unicellular photolithoautotrophic cyanobacterium, which is able to carry out oxygenic photosynthesis. Equipped with favorable characteristics such as tolerance to high light intensity and high salinity, fast growth rate, natural transformability and a fully sequenced genome, Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 has become a desirable model organism for biological research (Xu et al., 2011). The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of deletions of (putative) regulatory genes on the global transcriptome of Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002. SYNPCC7002_A1232 and SYNPCC7002_G0104, which encode putative transcription regulators, is not essential in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 under optimal growth conditions. smtB was shown to be the repressor of smtA that is involved in resistance to heavy metals. SYNPCC7002_A0590 was shown to repress the transcription of the open reading frame, SYNPCC7002_A0589. The open reading frames SYNPCC7002_A1373 and SYNPCC7002_A1374 are co-transcribed. SYNPCC7002_A1110 might be related to the regulation of kdp gene clusters, which code for potassium-dependent ATPase subunits. In terms of sigma factors, SigE might be involved in the regulation of genes responsive to nitrogen availability; SigF appears to regulate the transcription of genes involved in light sensitivity and stress responses; while SigB was shown to be essential for the survival of Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 after heat shock.