Characterization of promoter regions for design of a cell specific promoter

• Main Author: Annala, Katja
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Natural Sciences; Naturvetenskap; Engineering and Technology; Teknik och teknologier
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-340861

Global warming is one of the modern world’s biggest problems and renewable fuels are needed to meet this challenge. Biohydrogen is one alternative of a renewable fuel and can be produced from genetically modified cyanobacteria. Although the production is not yet efficient enough to compete with fossil fuels on a commercial level, it has potential. By gaining knowledge regarding pathways and regulatory mechanisms in cyanobacteria, genetic tools can be built and further enhance the production of biohydrogen. A synthetic promoter, which is active only in hydrogen producing cells, heterocysts, is an example of a wanted genetic tool. Such a promoter would make it possible to overexpress proteins essential for hydrogen production in heterocysts and thereby increase the production of hydrogen. In this study, several promoters have been designed and compared quantitatively on both transcriptional and translational levels. The promoters were compared regarding their heterocyst specific expression and their strength. By comparison of the designed promoters, all with different contents, the essential promoter regions have been identified and two well characterized and heterocyst specific promoter have been proposed.