• Treffer 1 von 10
Zurück zur Trefferliste

Generation of Cryomyces antarcticus mutants to explore the importance of DHN melanin for survival

  • Cryomyces antarcticus, a cryptoendolithic melanized fungus endemic to Antarctica (phylum Ascomycota, class Dothideomycetes incertae sedis), has demonstrated high capability to survive extreme environmental conditions like those found in space (e.g., ionizing radiation, vacuum, microgravity), thus fueling fundamental astrobiological questions like “the search for life beyond Earth”. Its extraordinary resilience has been attributed to the presence of thick, highly melanized cell walls, which may contain both DHN and DOPA melanins. To better understand the contribution of DHN melanin to the overall resilience of C. antarcticus, we decided to generate melanin-deficient mutants by genetic engineering. For this, the melanin-PKS (polyketide synthase)- encoding ortholog was identified in the C. antarcticus CBS 116301 genome and used to design primers for re-sequencing of the capks1 locus in the strain CCFEE 515. Based on the genetic toolkit developed for the black fungus Knufia petricola, weCryomyces antarcticus, a cryptoendolithic melanized fungus endemic to Antarctica (phylum Ascomycota, class Dothideomycetes incertae sedis), has demonstrated high capability to survive extreme environmental conditions like those found in space (e.g., ionizing radiation, vacuum, microgravity), thus fueling fundamental astrobiological questions like “the search for life beyond Earth”. Its extraordinary resilience has been attributed to the presence of thick, highly melanized cell walls, which may contain both DHN and DOPA melanins. To better understand the contribution of DHN melanin to the overall resilience of C. antarcticus, we decided to generate melanin-deficient mutants by genetic engineering. For this, the melanin-PKS (polyketide synthase)- encoding ortholog was identified in the C. antarcticus CBS 116301 genome and used to design primers for re-sequencing of the capks1 locus in the strain CCFEE 515. Based on the genetic toolkit developed for the black fungus Knufia petricola, we designed a strategy for mutating capks1. Protoplasts of C. antarcticus CCFEE 515 were generated and co-transformed with a circular AMA-containing plasmid for expression and in-vivo assembly of Cas9 and two capks1-specific sgRNAs and a PCR-generated donor DNA i.e., a hygromycin resistance cassette flanked by ~75-bp-long sequences homologous to the capks1 locus. Transformation of C. antarcticus is challenging because of its very slow growth and uncertain gene copy number. It took six months from obtaining enough biomass for cell wall lysis to transferring the putatively resistant transformants for genotyping, but we eventually managed to generate three independent non-melanized (whitish) Δcapks1 mutants! We are now awaiting first complemented strains as ultimate genetic transformation control. They are considered to have a wild-type-like pigmentation due to the reintroduction of the wild-type capks1 into the Δcapks1 mutant.zeige mehrzeige weniger

Volltext Dateien herunterladen

  • 2023-09-22_FUN-EX_Catanzaro.pdf
    eng

Metadaten exportieren

Weitere Dienste

Teilen auf Twitter Suche bei Google Scholar Anzahl der Zugriffe auf dieses Dokument
Metadaten
Autor*innen:Ilaria Catanzaro
Koautor*innen:Sarah Nitsche, Anna Gorbushina, Julia Schumacher, S. Onofri
Dokumenttyp:Vortrag
Veröffentlichungsform:Präsentation
Sprache:Englisch
Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung:2023
Organisationseinheit der BAM:4 Material und Umwelt
4 Material und Umwelt / 4.0 Abteilungsleitung und andere
DDC-Klassifikation:Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / Ingenieurwissenschaften / Sanitär- und Kommunaltechnik; Umwelttechnik
Freie Schlagwörter:Black fungus; Genetics; Melanin; UV tolerance
Themenfelder/Aktivitätsfelder der BAM:Umwelt
Umwelt / Umwelt-Material-Interaktionen
Veranstaltung:IUBMB Focused Meeting on Extremophilic Fungi (FUN-EX)
Veranstaltungsort:Ljubljana, Slovenia
Beginndatum der Veranstaltung:19.09.2023
Enddatum der Veranstaltung:22.09.2023
Verfügbarkeit des Dokuments:Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access")
Datum der Freischaltung:28.09.2023
Referierte Publikation:Nein
Eingeladener Vortrag:Nein
Einverstanden
Diese Webseite verwendet technisch erforderliche Session-Cookies. Durch die weitere Nutzung der Webseite stimmen Sie diesem zu. Unsere Datenschutzerklärung finden Sie hier.