Navarro Francisco J, Baulcombe David C
Department of Plant Sciences , University of Cambridge , Cambridge CB2 3EA , United Kingdom.
ACS Synth Biol. 2019 Feb 15;8(2):358-370. doi: 10.1021/acssynbio.8b00393. Epub 2019 Jan 24.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small RNA molecules of 20-24 nts, have many features that make them useful tools for gene expression regulation-small size, flexible design, target predictability, and action at a late stage of the gene expression pipeline. In addition, their role in fine-tuning gene expression can be harnessed to increase robustness of synthetic gene networks. In this work, we apply a synthetic biology approach to characterize miRNA-mediated gene expression regulation in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This characterization is then used to build tools based on miRNAs, such as synthetic miRNAs, miRNA-responsive 3'UTRs, miRNA decoys, and self-regulatory loops. These tools will facilitate the engineering of gene expression for new applications and improved traits in this alga.
微小RNA(miRNA)是一类长度为20 - 24个核苷酸的小RNA分子,具有许多使其成为基因表达调控有用工具的特性——体积小、设计灵活、靶标可预测性以及在基因表达流程后期发挥作用。此外,它们在微调基因表达方面的作用可用于增强合成基因网络的稳健性。在这项工作中,我们应用合成生物学方法来表征单细胞绿藻莱茵衣藻中miRNA介导的基因表达调控。然后利用这一表征构建基于miRNA的工具,如合成miRNA、miRNA响应性3'非翻译区、miRNA诱饵和自我调节环。这些工具将有助于对该藻类的基因表达进行工程改造,以实现新的应用和改良性状。