Construction Assistant for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Chassis Cells

Energy is the foundation for maintaining the development of human society. Currently, the world is facing the key problem of energy shortage. Solving the energy crisis is directly related to the sustainable development of the global economy. Bioenergy is considered to be one of the most ideal ways to solve the global energy crisis due to its greenness and renewable nature. In recent years, the application of microalgae biotechnology in biofuels and other fields has received widespread attention. Microalgae use CO₂ as raw material and solar energy as energy and have great application potential in the field of large-scale production of bulk food, energy, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and health products. With the advanced GlycoChas™ Cell platform, CD BioGlyco uses microalgae as efficient photosynthetic cell factories to fix CO₂ through photosynthesis and enrich oil or starch under stress conditions. We use the following Microalgae Chassis to help clients biosynthesize high-value metabolites efficiently.

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a single-cell, haploid, photoautotrophic eukaryotic green alga that lives in soil. Its structure is simple and the plasma membrane is close to the cell wall. There are two flagella on the top and an eyespot on the side. Most cells also have one or more vacuoles and a large cup-shaped chloroplast accounting for nearly 40% of the total cell volume. Due to its simple culture conditions, short growth cycle, rapid growth, high photosynthetic efficiency, complete genome sequencing, and simple transformation operation, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has become an important model organism. It has great advantages in the study of photosynthesis regulation, phototaxis, lipid metabolism, carbon dioxide concentration mechanism, anaerobic metabolism, cell cycle regulation, flagellar function and assembly, circadian rhythm, dark metabolism, and chloroplast development. We develop Chassis Cells using synthetic biology tools to efficiently Produce high value-added natural products. Our services are as follows:

• Gene identification and synthesis module design: Utilize omics technology and computational biology technology to identify genes involved in natural product biosynthesis, and identify natural product biosynthetic modules based on the cluster position, spatiotemporal expression, regulatory characteristics, and molecular phylogeny of genes.
• Choose the most suitable host based on the selected natural product: Selection of the most suitable chassis cells based on the properties of the target natural product is critical to achieving high production titers. When selecting chassis cells, we comprehensively consider factors: whether they produce enough precursor molecules, whether the chassis cells already have genome sequencing and metabolic network information, the tolerance of the chassis cells to natural products, and whether the chassis cells meet the enzymes required for natural product production.
• Reconstruct, integrate, and optimize complex heterologous pathways: After understanding the biosynthetic pathways of natural products and selecting appropriate chassis cells, we modify the chassis cells through a variety of synthetic biology tools, such as DNA assembly strategies, genome editing tools, protein engineering, etc. Commonly used gene editing technologies include multiplex automated genome engineering (MAGE), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9).
• Secretion of natural products: Targeted transformation strategies are employed to reduce the toxicity of natural products to cell growth and increase yields.

Advantages of Us

• We first help clients identify the gene network involved in the biosynthesis of the target product, identify the biosynthetic modules, and then select the most appropriate host cell based on the genetic information we have.
• We use biosynthetic tools (such as DNA assembly, gene editing, etc.) to help clients reconstruct, integrate, and optimize complex heterologous pathways to optimize the synthesis of natural products.
• Reduce the toxicity of natural products to chassis cells through transporters, laying the foundation for efficient synthesis of high-value-added natural products.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What are the characteristics of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii?
  The genome sequencing has been completed and the sequence structure is relatively clear; The culture conditions are simple and the cycle is short; There are many types of mutant strains, and different host mutant strains are selected for different screening methods; The nuclear transformation and chloroplast transformation methods are mature; Nuclear transformation, chloroplast transformation, and mitochondrial transformation is carried out. It not only expresses eukaryotic genes in the nuclear genome but also expresses prokaryotic genes in chloroplasts.
• What are the advantages of using Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as chassis to produce proteins, sugars, and lipid compounds?
  Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is known as "photosynthetic yeast". Using Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to produce proteins, sugars, and lipid compounds has the following advantages: First, the production cost is low and cost-effective; Second, as a eukaryotic organism, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii performs accurate post-translational processing and modification of eukaryotic proteins, and because its chloroplast genome has the characteristics of a prokaryotic genome, it also expresses prokaryotic proteins; Thirdly, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii itself does not contain substances harmful to the human body, such as viruses, bacteria, etc.; Fourthly, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is cultured in a closed manner through a "photo-bioreactor" without putting pressure on environmental safety.

At CD BioGlyco, our expertise base, synthesis experience, and laboratory equipment in synthetic biology are your best guarantee for worry-free production of natural products. If you want to produce natural products through microbial chassis, please feel free to contact us, we will be your best partner.

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