Engineering artificial photosynthetic life-forms through endosymbiosis
Abstract The evolutionary origin of the photosynthetic eukaryotes drastically altered the evolution of complex lifeforms and impacted global ecology. The endosymbiotic theory suggests that photosynthetic eukaryotes evolved due to endosymbiosis between non-photosynthetic eukaryotic host cells and pho...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29961-7 |
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| author | Jay Cournoyer Sarah D. Altman Yang-le Gao Catherine L. Wallace Dianwen Zhang Guo-Hsuen Lo Noah T. Haskin Angad P. Mehta |
| author_facet | Jay Cournoyer Sarah D. Altman Yang-le Gao Catherine L. Wallace Dianwen Zhang Guo-Hsuen Lo Noah T. Haskin Angad P. Mehta |
| author_sort | Jay Cournoyer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The evolutionary origin of the photosynthetic eukaryotes drastically altered the evolution of complex lifeforms and impacted global ecology. The endosymbiotic theory suggests that photosynthetic eukaryotes evolved due to endosymbiosis between non-photosynthetic eukaryotic host cells and photosynthetic cyanobacterial or algal endosymbionts. The photosynthetic endosymbionts, propagating within the cytoplasm of the host cells, evolved, and eventually transformed into chloroplasts. Despite the fundamental importance of this evolutionary event, we have minimal understanding of this remarkable evolutionary transformation. Here, we design and engineer artificial, genetically tractable, photosynthetic endosymbiosis between photosynthetic cyanobacteria and budding yeasts. We engineer various mutants of model photosynthetic cyanobacteria as endosymbionts within yeast cells where, the engineered cyanobacteria perform bioenergetic functions to support the growth of yeast cells under defined photosynthetic conditions. We anticipate that these genetically tractable endosymbiotic platforms can be used for evolutionary studies, particularly related to organelle evolution, and also for synthetic biology applications. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-11598293e32440e2b2f632b0c479fd65 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-11598293e32440e2b2f632b0c479fd652025-02-09T12:43:44ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232022-04-0113111410.1038/s41467-022-29961-7Engineering artificial photosynthetic life-forms through endosymbiosisJay Cournoyer0Sarah D. Altman1Yang-le Gao2Catherine L. Wallace3Dianwen Zhang4Guo-Hsuen Lo5Noah T. Haskin6Angad P. Mehta7Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignDepartment of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignDepartment of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe Imaging Technology Group, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe Imaging Technology Group, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignDepartment of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignDepartment of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignDepartment of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignAbstract The evolutionary origin of the photosynthetic eukaryotes drastically altered the evolution of complex lifeforms and impacted global ecology. The endosymbiotic theory suggests that photosynthetic eukaryotes evolved due to endosymbiosis between non-photosynthetic eukaryotic host cells and photosynthetic cyanobacterial or algal endosymbionts. The photosynthetic endosymbionts, propagating within the cytoplasm of the host cells, evolved, and eventually transformed into chloroplasts. Despite the fundamental importance of this evolutionary event, we have minimal understanding of this remarkable evolutionary transformation. Here, we design and engineer artificial, genetically tractable, photosynthetic endosymbiosis between photosynthetic cyanobacteria and budding yeasts. We engineer various mutants of model photosynthetic cyanobacteria as endosymbionts within yeast cells where, the engineered cyanobacteria perform bioenergetic functions to support the growth of yeast cells under defined photosynthetic conditions. We anticipate that these genetically tractable endosymbiotic platforms can be used for evolutionary studies, particularly related to organelle evolution, and also for synthetic biology applications.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29961-7 |
| spellingShingle | Jay Cournoyer Sarah D. Altman Yang-le Gao Catherine L. Wallace Dianwen Zhang Guo-Hsuen Lo Noah T. Haskin Angad P. Mehta Engineering artificial photosynthetic life-forms through endosymbiosis Nature Communications |
| title | Engineering artificial photosynthetic life-forms through endosymbiosis |
| title_full | Engineering artificial photosynthetic life-forms through endosymbiosis |
| title_fullStr | Engineering artificial photosynthetic life-forms through endosymbiosis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Engineering artificial photosynthetic life-forms through endosymbiosis |
| title_short | Engineering artificial photosynthetic life-forms through endosymbiosis |
| title_sort | engineering artificial photosynthetic life forms through endosymbiosis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29961-7 |
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