Gene discovered in ocean algae may help increase food production on land.

 Scientists at UC Riverside in California recently discovered a gene that codes for the production of a chlorophyll specific to marine algae and kelp.  Chlorophyll c is able to absorb wavelengths of light that penetrate deeper into the ocean.  Specifically blue-green light.  This adaption evolved from the need for more light absorbance since the ocean absorbs red light, which is more available to land plants.  Chlorophyll c helps algae to thrive in the ocean.  Terrestrial plants can only produce chlorophylls a and b, however the study demonstrated that tobacco, a land plant, could be genetically modified to produce chlorophyll c.  This alteration could allow for land plants to absorb a broader range light and increase productivity.  This has good implications for dealing with food scarcity and producing biofuel.

This article reminds me of one of the exercises we did in lab, and that was inserting the GFP gene from jellyfish into a DNA plasmid in E. coli. I wonder if inserting the chlorophyll c gene from algae into tobacco utilizes the same methods.  This article never outright said it, but the main point was that they potentially found a way to make better GMO's.  I don't know a lot about GMO's, but in the secondary article linked below, I read that their most common commercial use is in farmed plants.  Typically GMOs in the produce section have selected traits that increase their shelf life, make them more resistant to pests and diseases, and make them taste better.  The chlorophyll c gene may help land plants absorb more light and that would help increase crop yield.  However in the study they've only found that it can inserted into tobacco.  So we'll have to wait and see if it can be inserted into more plants.

 

Main article: https://www.earth.com/news/marine-algae-genes-chlorophyll-boost-crop-yields-land-plants/

GMO Article: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/genetically-modified-organisms/

Marine Parasite with a Functional DNA-less Mitochondria

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/marine-parasite-mitochondria-no-dna-energy

Related Article:

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/4/eaav1110

Amoebophyra ceratii is a parasitic plankton that seemed to have transferred all of its own mitochondrial DNA to its nucleus. This parasite infects algae that can cause toxic blooms (when algae grow out of control and produce toxic or harmful effect on people, fish, birds, etc). A. ceratti is the first discovery in which scientists have found an aerobic organism with fully functional mitochondria that do not have any mtDNA. This parasite has two mitochondria during the free-living stage of its life cycle and both organelles are able to produce energy. Researchers could not spot any DNA inside the mitochondria, but they found the genes for the mitochondrial function inside the organism's nucleus. They concluded that these genes made it possible for the tiny energy factories inside the mitochondria to keep producing energy after they lost their DNA.

I found this article to be interesting because I have never thought that transferring an organism's own mtDNA could be possible. Also, the fact that the parasite is still functioning surprises me. The thing is that the parasite is more dependent on its host because of its lack of mitochondrial genome in which I do not find advantageous.

Algae with aid of new high tech tools

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh sought to improve the efficiency of editing algae. Algae is a great is a great alternative to cheap environmentally friendly way of making many products. The scientists have at Edinburgh have used CRISPR which is a molecule which acts like scissors and cuts DNA. Once the DNA of algae was cut modifications to the increase the productions of algae. The production rate of the algae was increased at the rate of 500 fold. Scientists at the University of Edinburgh  used a species of algae called Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This was a very interesting article because I never thought of using algae for other purposes. Algae can be used as cheap environmentally friendly for making products instead of plastics and medication. Another important topic that the article talks about is using this technology of increasing production rates through genetic changes is used to engineer crops to increase growth rate and improve disease resistance. This was very good article and this research can lead to many benefits and advancements in the near future.

Sources:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171207141805.htm

https://phys.org/news/2017-12-algae-fuel-planet-aid-high-tech.html

A super-algae to save our seas? Genetic engineering species to save corals

Coral reefs are being negatively impacted by the warming of our oceans, which will ultimately impact a plethora of organisms. Coral reefs have a symbiotic relationship with microalgae. The algae lives in the coral reef and supplies the coral reef with food through the process of photosynthesis. However, due to the warming of our oceans the algae part from the coral reef, causing the coral reef to starve. This  problem is referred to as coral bleaching. In spite of that, a type of algae called Symbiodinium contains more genetic variation than the other types of algae, which allows it to be more tolerant to the stress caused by the warming of the oceans. Scientists want to genetically engineer the Symbiodinium and transfer it to other coral reefs to save them or to genetically engineer other algae to be like the Symbiodinium. There are certain genes in the Symbiodinium that inhibit coral bleaching. Unfortunately, due to the genetic variation found in the Symbiodinium, the successful genetic variation strategies do not work for this type of species. More research and more tests has to be conducted in order to begin to place this heat-stress tolerant algae in other coral reefs.
I believe the discovery of this stress tolerant algae is an enormous step in recuperating coral reefs. Coral reefs are an important ecosystem, thus they provide homes for a plethora of marine organisms. They are also one of the most diverse ecosystem. They also protect coastlines. I think this discovery should not be given up on, no matter how hard it might be due to its genetic coding. If there is ultimately a solution to this problem, it should keep on being research and tested so a solution is found and coral reefs do not go extinct.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170720095111.htm
https://interestingengineering.com/genetically-engineered-corals-could-help-save-the-coral-reefs

Algae-Based Water Bottle Biodegrades When It's Empty

Plastic bottles can lay around in landfills or the ocean for centuries and have been a major issue in the world. An Icelandic product design student was inspired to create a little something to address the issue.

Ari Jónsson, is from the Iceland Academy of the Arts and he has harnessed the properties of red algae to create a biodegradable bottle for drinking water. The bottles are made out of agar powder, which derives from the supporting structure in the cell walls of certain species of algae. When the agar powder is added to water and allowed to cool, it sets and molds into a jelly-like substance.

The bottle retains its shape when it's full of fluid but starts to decompose as soon as it's empty it. Since it's made of all natural and non-toxic materials, Ari says "you can even eat the bottle – although agar is used as a laxative, so you might want to go easy on it."

This could be an interesting concept that can help solve the ever growing plastic problem although its fairly new and more research will need to be done on the subject. After looking at the bottle I don't think this idea could be very popular as it makes it look like one is drinking dirty water.

Original source: http://www.iflscience.com/environment/algae-based-water-bottle-biodegrades-when-its-empty

See-weed?

Vision  is one of the most complex processes in the human body. Because of the density and connectivity of  neural pathways involved, it's extremely hard to target areas and try to restore sight. For this reason all opto-genetic testings up until this point has been done upon animals.  However, in the next month, RetroSense Theraputics will inject a Virus injected into legally blind volunteer's eyes, to restore sight.

How it works is, the DNA coding for the light sensitive protein in algae, chanelrhodopsin-2, activated retinal cells under blue light. This activation allows for visual information to be transduced to the brain. Here is how to prepare the virus. 

The mechanisms of chanelrhodopsin-2 are astounding, In the absence of blue light, it is like a tunnel compressed. When it is activated by the blue light it opens, flowing molecules through. When mice received this virus and attached to a fiber optic cable, brain movements could be controlled by light here is what happened. 


In the video, the blue light activates the neuron on the right hemisphere shown when it runs in left circles.  The yellow light turns the neuron off.


This is extremely interesting because it is the first study of this kind that will be performed on humans. There have been optogenetic tests performed on mice, but Scientists do not know if this will work with the Human Eye. Will the eye reproduce the genes from Chanelrhodopsin-2 as its own? I am extremely excited to follow up.

Can scientists rid malaria from the Third World by simply feeding algae genetically engineered with a vaccine?

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Apparently not yet.

But scientists say that a vast assortment of viral and bacterial diseases can be prevented by feeding algae orally as a vaccine.
The researchers fused a protein that provokes an antibody response in mice against the organism that causes malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, with a protein produced by the bacteria responsible for cholera, Vibrio cholera, that binds to intestinal epithelial cells. They then genetically engineered algae to produce this two-protein combination, freeze dried the algae and later fed the resulting green powder to mice.
The mice developed Immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies to both the malarial parasite protein and to a toxin produced by the cholera bacteria. IgA antibodies are produced in the gut and mucosal linings. Very interesting and ground breaking work is at hand here!

Algae--the new alternative fuel source?

Research at Iowa University has made a remarkable improvement in the production of algal biomass through gene manipulation and expression. There are two genes reponsible for algae's capturing of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis called LCIA and LCIB. When algae is in a region of an abudance of carbon dioxide, the genes will shut down in order to accomodate. Now, researchers have forced this gene to express in the abudance of carbon dioxide and therefore are able to produce even more growth. In fact, the biomass has increased fifty to eighty percent, more than the expected ten percent, by this method and the researchers at Iowa University have suggested continuing this process and utilizing it as an alternative fuel source in the future. By utilizing the biomass,  researchers state that the Energy Independence and Security Act requirement for replacing ten percent of our current petroleum usage could be met in an excess of ten percent by the year 2022.

[caption id="attachment_2776" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="Martin Spalding, a researcher at Iowa State."][/caption]