Generation of Marked and Markerless Mutants in Model Cyanobacterial Species

Summary

Introducing multiple genomic alterations into cyanobacteria is an essential tool in the development of strains for industrial and basic research purposes. We describe a system for generating unmarked mutants in the model cyanobacterial species Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 and marked mutants in Synechococcus sp. PCC7002.

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are ecologically important organisms and potential platforms for production of biofuels and useful industrial products. Genetic manipulation of cyanobacteria, especially model organisms such as Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 and Synechococcus sp. PCC7002, is a key tool for both basic and applied research. Generation of unmarked mutants, whereby chromosomal alterations are introduced into a strain via insertion of an antibiotic resistance cassette (a manipulatable fragment of DNA containing one or more genes), followed by subsequent removal of this cassette using a negative selectable marker, is a particularly powerful technique. Unmarked mutants can be repeatedly genetically manipulated, allowing as many alterations to be introduced into a strain as desired. In addition, the absence of genes encoding antibiotic resistance proteins in the mutated strain is desirable, as it avoids the possibility of 'escape' of antibiotic resistant organisms into the environment. However, detailed methods for repeated rounds of genetic manipulation of cyanobacteria are not well described in the scientific literature. Here we provide a comprehensive description of this technique, which we have successfully used to generate mutants with multiple deletions, single point mutations within a gene of interest and insertion of novel gene cassettes.

Introduction

Cyanobacteria are an evolutionarily ancient and diverse phylum of bacteria found in nearly every natural environment on Earth. In marine ecosystems they are particularly abundant and play a key role in many nutrient cycles, accounting for approximately half of carbon fixation¹, the majority of nitrogen fixation² and hundreds of millions of tons of hydrocarbon production³ in the oceans annually. Chloroplasts, the organelle responsible for photosynthesis in eukaryotic algae and plants, are likely to have evolved from a cyanobacterium that was engulfed by a host organism⁴. Cyanobacteria have proved useful model organisms for th....

Protocol

1. Preparation of Culture Media

1. Prepare BG11 medium according to Castenholz, 1988¹⁷.
   1. Prepare stock solutions of 100x BG11, trace elements and iron stock (Table 1).
   2. Prepare separate solutions of phosphate stock, Na₂CO₃ stock, N-[Tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl]-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (TES) buffer and NaHCO₃ (Table 1).
   3. Autoclave the phosphate and Na₂CO₃ stocks. Filter-sterilize TES buffer and NaHCO₃ with 0.2 µm filters.
   4. Prepare BG11 by combining 976 ml of water, 10 ml of 100x BG11, 1 ml of tra....

Results

Plasmid design is critical for successful generation of both marked and unmarked mutants. Figure 1 gives an example of plasmid A and B used to generate a deletion mutant in the Synechocystis genes cpcC1 and cpcC2¹³. In each case the 5' and 3' flanking regions are approximately 900-1,000 bp. Reduced flanking regions can be used although the smallest we have successfully trialed has been approximately 500 bp. Plasmid B can also .......

Discussion

The most critical steps in generation of unmarked mutants are: 1) careful plasmid design to ensure only the targeted region is altered; 2) ensuring that samples remain axenic, especially when cultured on sucrose; 3) plating transformed cells for marked mutant generation initially on BG11 agar plates lacking antibiotics, followed by addition of agar plus antibiotics 24 hr later; 4) culturing marked mutants for 4 full days prior to plating on BG11 plus sucrose agar plates: 5) ensuring that marked mutants are fully segregat.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
NaNO3	Sigma	S5506
MgSO4.7H2O	Sigma	230391
CaCl2	Sigma	C1016
citric acid	Sigma	C0759
Na2EDTA	Fisher	EDT002
H3BO3	Sigma	339067
MnCl2.4H2O	Sigma	M3634
ZnSO4.7H2O	Sigma	Z4750
Na2MoO4.2H2O	Sigma	331058
CuSO4.5H2O	Sigma	209198
Co(NO3)2.6H2O	Sigma	239267
Ferric ammonium citrate	Sigma	F5879
K2HPO4	Sigma	P3786
Na2CO3	Fisher	SODC001
TES	Sigma	T1375
NaHCO3	Fisher	SODH001
HEPES	Sigma	H3375
cyanocobalamin	Sigma	47869
Na2S2O3	Sigma	72049
Bacto agar	BD	214010
Sucrose	Fisher	SUC001
Petri dish 90 mm triple vented	Greiner	633185
0.2 µm filters	Sartorius	16534
100 mL conical flasks	Pyrex	CON004
Parafilm M 100 mm x38 m	Bemis	FIL003
Phusion high fidelity DNA polymerase	Phusion	F-530
Agarose	Melford	MB1200
DNA purification kit	MoBio	12100-300
Restriction endonucleases	NEB
T4 ligase	Thermo Scientific	EL0011
Luria Bertani broth	Invitrogen	12795-027
MES	Sigma	M8250
Kanamycin sulfate	Sigma	60615
Ampicillin	Sigma	A9518
GeneJET plasmid miniprep kit	Thermo Scientific	K0503
14 mL round-bottom tube	BD falcon	352059
GoTaq G2 Flexi DNA polymerase	Promega	M7805
425-600 µm glass beads	Sigma	G8772
Glycerol	Sigma	G5516
DMSO	Sigma	D8418
Fluorescent bulbs	Gro-Lux	69
HT multitron photobioreactor	Infors