Cited by 58Protist diversity and phylogenyAlgal biology and biofuel productionFungal and yeast genetics research

Stable nuclear transformation of Gonium pectorale

Open access
Lerche, Kai, Hallmann, Armin·2009·BMC Biotechnology

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Green algae of the family Volvocaceae are a model lineage for studying the molecular evolution of multicellularity and cellular differentiation. The volvocine alga Gonium is intermediate in organizational complexity between its unicellular relative, Chlamydomonas, and its multicellular relatives with differentiated cell types, such as Volvox. Gonium pectorale consists of approximately 16 biflagellate cells arranged in a flat plate. The detailed molecular analysis of any species necessitates its accessibility to genetic manipulation, but, in volvocine algae, transformation procedures have so far only been established for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Volvox carteri. RESULTS: Stable nuclear transformation of G. pectorale was achieved using a heterologous dominant antibiotic resistance gene, the aminoglycoside 3'-phosphotransferase VIII gene (aphVIII) of Streptomyces rimosus, as a selectable marker. Heterologous 3'- and 5'-untranslated flanking sequences, including promoters, were from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii or from Volvox carteri. After particle gun bombardment of wild type Gonium cells with plasmid-coated gold particles, transformants were recovered. The transformants were able to grow in the presence of the antibiotic paromomycin and produced a detectable level of the AphVIII protein. The plasmids integrated into the genome, and stable integration was verified after propagation for over 1400 colony generations. Co-transformants were recovered with a frequency of approximately 30-50% when cells were co-bombarded with aphVIII-based selectable marker plasmids along with unselectable plasmids containing heterologous genes. The transcription of the co-transformed, unselectable genes was confirmed. After heterologous expression of the luciferase gene from the marine copepod Gaussia princeps, which was previously engineered to match the codon usage in C. reinhardtii, Gonium transformants show luciferase activity through light emission in bioluminescence assays. CONCLUSION: Flanking sequences that include promoters from C. reinhardtii and from V. carteri work in G. pectorale and allow the functional expression of heterologous genes, such as the selectable marker gene aphVIII of S. rimosus or the co-transformed, codon-optimized G. princeps luciferase gene, which turned out to be a suitable reporter gene in Gonium. The availability of a method for transformation of Gonium makes genetic engineering of this species possible and allows for detailed studies in molecular evolution using the unicellular Chlamydomonas, the 16-celled Gonium, and the multicellular Volvox.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1186/1472-6750-9-64

Cites

48 of 48 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Nuclear transformation has been achieved in a number of other green algae species, such as members of the Chlorella and volvox genuses.

    “while nuclear transformation has been achieved in a number of other green algae species, such as members of the Chlorella and volvox genuses [99,100].”

    From Biofuels from algae: Challenges and potential (2010) · cites this paper as [99]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Lerche, K., & Hallmann, A.
Affiliations
Bielefeld University (DE)
Corresponding author
Hallmann, Armin
Venue
BMC Biotechnology
Published
2009
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
64
ISSN
1472-6750 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2025282208
Cited by
58
References
48
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 7
FWCI
2.15
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • BMC Biotechnology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • PUB – Publications at Bielefeld University (Bielefeld University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld (Universität Bielefeld) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • University of Maryland, Baltimore County
  • Universität Regensburg
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protist diversity and phylogeny
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Fungal and yeast genetics research
Keywords
Gonium pectorale, volvocine algae, Volvocaceae, Streptomyces rimosus, co-transformation, heterologous expression, Gaussia princeps luciferase, codon optimization
MeSH terms
Chlorophyta, Base Sequence, Genetic Engineering, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Streptomyces, Transformation, Genetic, Genes, Reporter, Kanamycin Kinase, 5' Flanking Region, 3' Flanking Region, DNA, Algal

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review