Project description:The goal of this study was to use microarrays to identify genes differentially regulated under conditions of formaldehyde stress relative to two other stress conditions (oxidative, osmotic) in an effort to identify genes that might be involved in a formaldehyde-specific stress response, rather than a general stress response, in the model methylotroph Methylobacterium extorquens AM1.
Project description:Methylorubrum extorquens AM1 is engineered to produce itaconic acid by heterologous expression of cis-aconitic acid decarboxylase. Mutation was also performed on phaR in Methylorubrum extorquens AM1, which regulate poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate accumulation, in attempt to increase carbon flux toward itaconic acid production. However, in our case, itaconic acid production by phaR mutant strain was not higher than that of the wildtype. Transcriptomic analysis was utilized in order to examine the cause for this phenomenon. RNA-seq analysis revealed that phaR mutation in the itaconic acid-producing strain might result in a complex regulatory rewiring at the gene expression level, which could cause a reduced resource flux toward ITA production. Also, RNA profiling gave a hint at the broad regulatory role of PhaR.
Project description:We report a genetic variant of Methylorubrum extorquens AM1 that hyperaccumulates the heavy lanthanide gadolinium. Using RNA-seq transcriptomics we identified wide-spread metabolic and physiological changes in this strain and experimentally validate several of them, including increased gadolinium transport and storage in an intracellular compartment we name the lanthasome.
