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Isolation and characterization of the rbcS genes from a sterile mutant of Ulva pertusa (Ulvales, Chlorophyta) and transient gene expression using the rbcS gene promoter

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Abstract

We isolated two different genomic DNAs (UprbcS1 and UprbcS2) encoding the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase and portions of the 5′- and 3′-flanking regions from sterile Ulva pertusa Kjellman. The UprbcS1 and UprbcS2 genes had three introns in the coding region. Each predicted UprbcS polypeptide was a 180-amino-acid (AA) residue including a 38-AA transit peptide, although the 104th AA residue was replaced. The nucleotide sequences of UprbcS cDNAs isolated from a cDNA library corresponded to that of the UprbcS1 gene, suggesting that the UprbcS1 gene was predominantly expressed in sterile U. pertusa compared to UprbcS2. Southern blot analysis showed that each UprbcS gene was a single-copy gene in the sterile U. pertusa genome. Northern hybridization indicated that the expression of UprbcS was induced and repressed by dark and light treatments, respectively. When sterile U. pertusa cells were transformed with an expression vector containing the UprbcS1 promoter and terminator sequences fused with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene, GFP fluorescence was observed in the cells transformed. These results suggest that the UprbcS1 gene promoter is light regulated and highly active in the sterile U. pertusa cells and is available for genetic transformation system in the alga.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for scientific research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture of Japan. We thank Dr. M. Maegawa of the Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, Japan, for supplying sterile U. pertusa and for help with its culture. We also thank Dr. T. Tsuchiya and Y. Kagaya of the Life Science Research Center, Mie University, Japan, for help with the experiments.

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  1. Graduate School of Bioresources, Mie University, 1577 Kurima-machiya, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan

    Makoto Kakinuma, Masaki Ikeda, Daniel A. Coury, Hiroshi Tominaga & Hideomi Amano

  2. Life Science Research Center, Mie University, 1577 Kurima-machiya, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan

    Issei Kobayashi

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  1. Makoto Kakinuma
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Correspondence to Makoto Kakinuma.

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Kakinuma, M., Ikeda, M., Coury, D.A. et al. Isolation and characterization of the rbcS genes from a sterile mutant of Ulva pertusa (Ulvales, Chlorophyta) and transient gene expression using the rbcS gene promoter. Fish Sci 75, 1015–1028 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-009-0101-5

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