小柯机器人

近日，美国卡内基科学研究所Robert E. Jinkerson等研究人员合作完成光合藻类莱茵衣藻基因功能的系统表征。相关论文于2022年5月5日在线发表在《自然—遗传学》杂志上。

研究人员利用真核生物模型藻类莱茵衣藻的条形码突变体库，确定了超过121种不同环境生长条件和化学处理下的58000个突变体的表型。总共有59%的基因至少有一个突变体表现出了表型，为成千上万的基因的功能提供了线索。突变体的表型特征将未定性的基因归入功能途径，如DNA修复、光合作用、二氧化碳浓缩机制和纤毛生成。

研究人员通过验证表型和基因功能来说明了这一资源的价值，包括肌动蛋白细胞骨架防御途径的三个新成分。这些数据也为陆地植物的表型发现提供了信息；拟南芥基因的突变体表现出的表型与研究人员在其衣藻同源物中观察到的表型相似。研究人员预计，这一资源将指导整个生命树的基因功能特征。

据介绍，光合生物中的大多数基因在功能上仍未被描述。

附：英文原文

Title: Systematic characterization of gene function in the photosynthetic alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Author: Fauser, Friedrich, Vilarrasa-Blasi, Josep, Onishi, Masayuki, Ramundo, Silvia, Patena, Weronika, Millican, Matthew, Osaki, Jacqueline, Philp, Charlotte, Nemeth, Matthew, Salom, Patrice A., Li, Xiaobo, Wakao, Setsuko, Kim, Rick G., Kaye, Yuval, Grossman, Arthur R., Niyogi, Krishna K., Merchant, Sabeeha S., Cutler, Sean R., Walter, Peter, Dinneny, Jos R., Jonikas, Martin C., Jinkerson, Robert E.

Issue&Volume: 2022-05-05

Abstract: Most genes in photosynthetic organisms remain functionally uncharacterized. Here, using a barcoded mutant library of the model eukaryotic alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, we determined the phenotypes of more than 58,000 mutants under more than 121 different environmental growth conditions and chemical treatments. A total of 59% of genes are represented by at least one mutant that showed a phenotype, providing clues to the functions of thousands of genes. Mutant phenotypic profiles place uncharacterized genes into functional pathways such as DNA repair, photosynthesis, the CO2-concentrating mechanism and ciliogenesis. We illustrate the value of this resource by validating phenotypes and gene functions, including three new components of an actin cytoskeleton defense pathway. The data also inform phenotype discovery in land plants; mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana genes exhibit phenotypes similar to those we observed in their Chlamydomonas homologs. We anticipate that this resource will guide the functional characterization of genes across the tree of life. Systematic phenotyping of 58,101 mutants of the model eukaryotic alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii under 121 environmental and chemical stress conditions provides a large resource for characterizing gene function.

DOI: 10.1038/s41588-022-01052-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-022-01052-9

Nature Genetics：《自然—遗传学》，创刊于1992年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：41.307
官方网址：https://www.nature.com/ng/
投稿链接：https://mts-ng.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex