Isolation of of marine diatom-infecting virus promoters in the marine diatoms

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14804
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Aquatic life science
• Research Institution: Kochi University
• Principal Investigator: Adachi Masao 高知大学, 教育研究部自然科学系農学部門, 教授 (70274363)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): TOMARU Yuji 水産研究・教育機構, 瀬戸内海区水産研究所, 主任研究員 (10416042)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 珪藻 / プロモーター / 形質転換

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Transformation of diatom may enable us to solve the limitations in the mass production of beneficial chemicals for use in human activities. Promoter activity is important in genetic engineering. Thus, in this study, potential promoter regions were isolated from several marine diatom-infecting viruses (DIVs). DIV promoter-driving gene expression capacities in the Pennales diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum were evaluated and compared to those of the endogenous promoter. We then examined the effects of the growth stage, the nutrient concentrations in media, and the photoperiods on viral promoter activity were investigated. Compared to diatom endogenous promoters, novel DIV promoter meditate a significantly higher degree of reporter transcription. Stable expression levels were observed in transformants grown under both light and dark conditions. This is the first report describing a promoter of DIVs that may be of use in basic and applied diatom research.

Free Research Field

海洋微生物学