Plastid proteostasis and heterologous protein accumulation in transplastomic plants

A biotechnological approach for the production of new protein bioplastics

The future of biomaterial production will leverage biotechnology based on the domestication of cells as biological factories. Plants, algae, and bacteria can produce low-environmental impact biopolymers. Here, two strategies were developed to produce a biopolymer derived from a bioengineered vacuolar storage protein of the common bean (phaseolin; PHSL). The cys-added PHSL* forms linear-structured biopolymers when expressed in the thylakoids of transplastomic tobacco leaves by exploiting the formation of inter-chain disulfide bridges. The same protein without signal peptide (ΔPHSL*) accumulates in Escherichia coli inclusion bodies as high-molar-mass species polymers that can subsequently be oxidized to form disulfide crosslinking bridges in order to increase the stiffness of the biomaterial, a valid alternative to the use of chemical crosslinkers. The E. coli cells produced 300 times more engineered PHSL, measured as percentage of total soluble proteins, than transplastomic tobacco plants. Moreover, the thiol groups of cysteine allow the site-specific PEGylation of ΔPHSL*, which is a desirable functionality in the design of a protein-based drug carrier. In conclusion, ΔPHSL* expressed in E. coli has the potential to become an innovative biopolymer.

Two Foreign Antimicrobial Peptides Expressed in the Chloroplast of Porphyridium purpureum Possessed Antibacterial Properties

To solve the problem of antibiotic abuse in aquaculture and to utilize the application potential of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), a chloroplast transformation system of Porphyridium purpureum was successfully constructed for effectively expressing two exogenous AMPs. The endogenous fragments of 16S rDNA/trnA-23S rDNA were used as flanking fragments for the homologous recombination in the chloroplast genome. Two AMPs encoded by the transformation vector were controlled by the native promoter psbB in a polycistron. The plasmids were transferred into P. purpureum via particle bombardment and the transformation vectors were screened using phosphinothricin (bar), a dominant selection marker under the control of the psbA promoter. Subsequently, in the positive transformed colonies, the exogenous fragments were found to be inserted in the flanking fragments directionally as expected and two foreign AMPs were successfully obtained. Finally, two exogenous peptides with antibacterial properties were obtained from the transformed strain. The two AMPs expressed by the transformed strain were shown to have similar inhibitory effects to antibiotics by inhibition tests. This suggested that AMPs can be introduced into aquaculture using baited microalgae, providing new ideas and ways to solve a series of aquaculture diseases caused by bacteria.

Overexpression of the recombinant human interferon-beta (rhIFN-β) gene in tobacco chloroplasts

Chloroplast genetic engineering is a convenient method for the production of recombinant proteins by increasing the expression level of transgenes. Interferon-beta (IFN-β) is a member of type I interferons that possess some pharmaceutical properties. The present study aimed to investigate the overexpression and production of the recombinant human IFN-β gene (rhIFN-β) in the tobacco chloroplast genome. For this purpose, a codon-optimized rhIFN-β was transferred to the pVSR326 plastid vector containing the aadA gene as a selectable marker. The rhIFN-β gene was then successfully introduced into the tobacco chloroplast genome by using a gene gun. The integration of the rhIFN-β gene into the chloroplast genome and the homoplasmy of the T1 progeny were confirmed by PCR and Southern blot analysis, respectively. RT-PCR and western blot analyses confirmed the transcription and translation of the rhIFN-β gene, respectively. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed that the rhIFN-β protein in transplastomic plants comprised approximately 2.4% of total soluble protein (TSPs). The bioassay confirmed that the rhIFN-β protein expressed in the tobacco chloroplast had a relatively high biological activity (2.9 × 10⁴ IU/ml) and protected human amnionic cells against the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). On the basis of these findings, it can be concluded that plastid transformation can serve as an operative method for the production of pharmaceutical recombinant proteins.

Perspectives on protein biopolymers: miniaturized flow field-flow fractionation-assisted characterization of a single-cysteine mutated phaseolin expressed in transplastomic tobacco plants

The development of plant-based protein polymers to employ in biofilm production represents the promising intersection between material science and sustainability, and allows to obtain biodegradable materials that also possess excellent physicochemical properties. A possible candidate for protein biopolymer production is phaseolin, a storage protein highly abundant in P Vulgaris beans. We previously showed that transformed tobacco chloroplasts could be employed to express a mutated phaseolin carrying a signal peptide (directing it into the thylakoids) also enriched of a cysteine residue added to its C-terminal region. This modification allows for the formation of inter-chain disulfide bonds, as we previously demonstrated, and should promote polymerization. To verify the effect of the peptide modification and to quantify polymer formation, we employed hollow-fiber flow field-flow fractionation coupled to UV and multi-angle laser scattering detection (HF5-UV-MALS): HF5 allows for the selective size-based separation of phaseolin species, whereas MALS calculates molar mass and conformation state of each population. With the use of two different HF5 separation methods we first observed the native state of P.Vulgaris phaseolin, mainly assembled into trimers, and compared it to mutated phaseolin (P*) which instead resulted highly aggregated. Then we further characterized P* using a second separation method, discriminating between two and distinct high-molecular weight (HMW) species, one averaging 0.8 × 106 Da and the second reaching the tens of million Da. Insight on the conformation of these HMW species was offered from their conformation plots, which confirmed the positive impact of the Cys modification on polymerization.

Engineering Chloroplasts for High-Level Constitutive or Inducible Transgene Expression

Expression of transgenes from the plastid genome offers a number of attractions to biotechnologists, with the potential to attain very high protein accumulation levels arguably being the most attractive one. High-level transgene expression is of particular importance in resistance engineering (e.g., for expression of insecticidal proteins) and molecular farming (e.g., for expression of pharmaceutical proteins and industrial enzymes). Over the past decades, the production of many commercially valuable proteins in chloroplast-transgenic (transplastomic) plants has been attempted, including pharmaceutical proteins (e.g., subunit vaccines and protein antibiotics) and industrial enzymes. Although in some cases, spectacularly high foreign protein accumulation levels have been obtained, expression levels were disappointingly poor in other cases. In this review, I summarize our current knowledge about the factors influencing the efficiency of plastid transgene expression, and highlight possible optimization strategies to alleviate problems with poor expression levels. I also discuss available techniques for inducible expression of chloroplast transgenes.

Translocation from the chloroplast stroma into the thylakoid lumen allows expression of recombinant epidermal growth factor in transplastomic tobacco plants

Chloroplast transformation has many potential advantages for the production of recombinant proteins in plants. However, it has been reported that chloroplast expression of many proteins, such as human epidermal growth factor (hEGF), results hindered by post-transcriptional mechanisms. hEGF degradation has been related to the redox potential of the stroma and protein misfolding. To solve this problem, we proposed the redirection of hEGF into the thylakoid lumen where the environment could improve disulfide bonds formation stabilizing the functional conformation of the protein. We generated transplastomic tobacco plants targeting hEGF protein to the thylakoid lumen by adding a transit peptide (Str). Following this approach, we could detect thylakoid lumen-targeted hEGF by western blotting while stromal accumulation of hEGF remained undetectable. Southern blot analysis confirmed the integration of the transgene through homologous recombination into the plastome. Northern blot analysis showed similar levels of egf transcripts in the EGF and StrEGF lines. These results suggest that higher stability of the hEGF peptide in the thylakoid lumen is the primary cause of the increased accumulation of the recombinant protein observed in StrEGF lines. They also highlight the necessity of exploring different sub-organellar destinations to improve the accumulation levels of a specific recombinant protein in plastids.

Functional Improvement of Human Cardiotrophin 1 Produced in Tobacco Chloroplasts by Co-expression with Plastid Thioredoxin m

Human cardiotrophin 1 (CT1), a cytokine with excellent therapeutic potential, was previously expressed in tobacco chloroplasts. However, the growth conditions required to reach the highest expression levels resulted in an impairment of its bioactivity. In the present study, we have examined new strategies to modulate the expression of this recombinant protein in chloroplasts so as to enhance its production and bioactivity. In particular, we assessed the effect of both the fusion and co-expression of Trx m with CT1 on the production of a functional CT1 by using plastid transformation. Our data revealed that the Trx m fusion strategy was useful to increase the expression levels of CT1 inside the chloroplasts, although CT1 bioactivity was significantly impaired, and this was likely due to steric hindrance between both proteins. By contrast, the expression of functional CT1 was increased when co-expressed with Trx m, because we demonstrated that recombinant CT1 was functionally active during an in vitro signaling assay. While Trx m/CT1 co-expression did not increase the amount of CT1 in young leaves, our results revealed an increase in CT1 protein stability as the leaves aged in this genotype, which also improved the recombinant protein's overall production. This strategy might be useful to produce other functional biopharmaceuticals in chloroplasts.

Evaluation of lettuce chloroplast and soybean cotyledon as platforms for production of functional bone morphogenetic protein 2

The bone morphogenetic protein BMP2 plays a crucial role in the formation and regeneration of bone and cartilage, which is critical for maintaining skeletal integrity and bone fracture repair. Because of its important role in osteogenic properties it has been commercially produced for clinical use. Here we report attempts to express human BMP2 using two plant systems (lettuce chloroplast and soybean seeds). The rhBMP2 gene (coding for the 13 kDa active polypeptide) was introduced in two regions of the lettuce chloroplast genome. Two homoplasmic events were achieved and RT-PCR demonstrated that the BMP2 gene was transcribed. However, it was not possible to detect accumulation of rhBMP2 in leaves. Two soybean events were achieved to express a full-length hBMP2 gene (coding for the 45 kDa pro-BMP2) fused with the α-coixin signal peptide, under control of the β-conglycinin promoter. Pro-BMP2 was expressed in the transgenic seeds at levels of up to 9.28% of the total soluble seed protein as determined by ELISA. It was demonstrated that this recombinant form was biologically active upon administration to C2C12 cell cultures, because it was able to induce an osteogenic cascade, as observed by the enhanced expression of SP7 (osterix) and ALPI (alkaline phosphatase) genes. Collectively, these results corroborated our previous observation that soybean seeds provide an effective strategy for achieving stable accumulation of functional therapeutic proteins, such as BMP2.

Recent Advances and Current Challenges in Synthetic Biology of the Plastid Genetic System and Metabolism

Building on recombinant DNA technology, leaps in synthesis, assembly, and analysis of DNA have revolutionized genetics and molecular biology over the past two decades (Kosuri and Church, 2014). These technological advances have accelerated the emergence of synthetic biology as a new discipline (Cameron et al., 2014). Synthetic biology is characterized by efforts targeted at the modification of existing and the design of novel biological systems based on principles adopted from information technology and engineering (Andrianantoandro et al., 2006; Khalil and Collins, 2010). As in more traditional engineering disciplines such as mechanical, electrical and civil engineering, synthetic biologists utilize abstraction, decoupling and standardization to make the design of biological systems more efficient and scalable. To facilitate the management of complexity, synthetic biology relies on an abstraction hierarchy composed of multiple levels (Endy, 2005): DNA as genetic material, "parts" as elements of DNA encoding basic biological functions (e.g. promoter, ribosome-binding site, terminator sequence), "devices" as any combination of parts implementing a human-defined function, and "systems" as any combination of devices fulfilling a predefined purpose. Parts are designated to perform predictable and modular functions in the context of higher-level devices or systems, which are successively refined through a cycle of designing, building, and testing.

High-level expression of the HIV entry inhibitor griffithsin from the plastid genome and retention of biological activity in dried tobacco leaves

KEY MESSAGE

The potent anti-HIV microbicide griffithsin was expressed to high levels in tobacco chloroplasts, enabling efficient purification from both fresh and dried biomass, thus providing storable material for inexpensive production and scale-up on demand. The global HIV epidemic continues to grow, with 1.8 million new infections occurring per year. In the absence of a cure and an AIDS vaccine, there is a pressing need to prevent new infections in order to curb the disease. Topical microbicides that block viral entry into human cells can potentially prevent HIV infection. The antiviral lectin griffithsin has been identified as a highly potent inhibitor of HIV entry into human cells. Here we have explored the possibility to use transplastomic plants as an inexpensive production platform for griffithsin. We show that griffithsin accumulates in stably transformed tobacco chloroplasts to up to 5% of the total soluble protein of the plant. Griffithsin can be easily purified from leaf material and shows similarly high virus neutralization activity as griffithsin protein recombinantly expressed in bacteria. We also show that dried tobacco provides a storable source material for griffithsin purification, thus enabling quick scale-up of production on demand.

Generation and characterization of a collection of knock-down lines for the chloroplast Clp protease complex in tobacco

Protein degradation in chloroplasts is carried out by a set of proteases that eliminate misfolded, damaged, or superfluous proteins. The ATP-dependent caseinolytic protease (Clp) is the most complex protease in plastids and has been implicated mainly in stromal protein degradation. In contrast, FtsH, a thylakoid membrane-associated metalloprotease, is believed to participate mainly in the degradation of thylakoidal proteins. To determine the role of specific Clp and FtsH subunits in plant growth and development, RNAi lines targeting at least one subunit of each Clp ring and FtsH were generated in tobacco. In addition, mutation of the translation initiation codon was employed to down-regulate expression of the plastid-encoded ClpP1 subunit. These protease lines cover a broad range of reductions at the transcript and protein levels of the targeted genes. A wide spectrum of phenotypes was obtained, including pigment deficiency, alterations in leaf development, leaf variegations, and impaired photosynthesis. When knock-down lines for the different protease subunits were compared, both common and specific phenotypes were observed, suggesting distinct functions of at least some subunits. Our work provides a well-characterized collection of knock-down lines for plastid proteases in tobacco and reveals the importance of the Clp protease in physiology and plant development.

Challenges and perspectives in commercializing plastid transformation technology

Plastid transformation has emerged as an alternative platform to generate transgenic plants. Attractive features of this technology include specific integration of transgenes-either individually or as operons-into the plastid genome through homologous recombination, the potential for high-level protein expression, and transgene containment because of the maternal inheritance of plastids. Several issues associated with nuclear transformation such as gene silencing, variable gene expression due to the Mendelian laws of inheritance, and epigenetic regulation have not been observed in the plastid genome. Plastid transformation has been successfully used for the production of therapeutics, vaccines, antigens, and commercial enzymes, and for engineering various agronomic traits including resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, these demonstrations have usually focused on model systems such as tobacco, and the technology per se has not yet reached the market. Technical factors limiting this technology include the lack of efficient protocols for the transformation of cereals, poor transgene expression in non-green plastids, a limited number of selection markers, and the lengthy procedures required to recover fully segregated plants. This article discusses the technology of transforming the plastid genome, the positive and negative features compared with nuclear transformation, and the current challenges that need to be addressed for successful commercialization.

Extending the biosynthetic repertoires of cyanobacteria and chloroplasts

Chloroplasts in plants and algae and photosynthetic microorganisms such as cyanobacteria are emerging hosts for sustainable production of valuable biochemicals, using only inorganic nutrients, water, CO2 and light as inputs. In the past decade, many bioengineering efforts have focused on metabolic engineering and synthetic biology in the chloroplast or in cyanobacteria for the production of fuels, chemicals and complex, high-value bioactive molecules. Biosynthesis of all these compounds can be performed in photosynthetic organelles/organisms by heterologous expression of the appropriate pathways, but this requires optimization of carbon flux and reducing power, and a thorough understanding of regulatory pathways. Secretion or storage of the compounds produced can be exploited for the isolation or confinement of the desired compounds. In this review, we explore the use of chloroplasts and cyanobacteria as biosynthetic compartments and hosts, and we estimate the levels of production to be expected from photosynthetic hosts in light of the fraction of electrons and carbon that can potentially be diverted from photosynthesis. The supply of reducing power, in the form of electrons derived from the photosynthetic light reactions, appears to be non-limiting, but redirection of the fixed carbon via precursor molecules presents a challenge. We also discuss the available synthetic biology tools and the need to expand the molecular toolbox to facilitate cellular reprogramming for increased production yields in both cyanobacteria and chloroplasts.

Production of dengue virus envelope protein domain III-based antigens in tobacco chloroplasts using inducible and constitutive expression systems

Dengue fever is a disease in many parts of the tropics and subtropics and about half the world's population is at risk of infection according to the World Health Organization. Dengue is caused by any of the four related dengue virus serotypes DEN-1, -2, -3 and -4, which are transmitted to people by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Currently there is only one vaccine (Dengvaxia(®)) available (limited to a few countries) on the market since 2015 after half a century's intensive efforts. Affordable and accessible vaccines against dengue are hence still urgently needed. The dengue envelop protein domain III (EDIII), which is capable of eliciting serotype-specific neutralizing antibodies, has become the focus for subunit vaccine development. To contribute to the development of an accessible and affordable dengue vaccine, in the current study we have used plant-based vaccine production systems to generate a dengue subunit vaccine candidate in tobacco. Chloroplast genome engineering was applied to express serotype-specific recombinant EDIII proteins in tobacco chloroplasts using both constitutive and ethanol-inducible expression systems. Expression of a tetravalent antigen fusion construct combining EDIII polypeptides from all four serotypes was also attempted. Transplastomic EDIII-expressing tobacco lines were obtained and homoplasmy was verified by Southern blot analysis. Northern blot analyses showed expression of EDIII antigen-encoding genes. EDIII protein accumulation levels varied for the different recombinant EDIII proteins and the different expression systems, and reached between 0.8 and 1.6 % of total cellular protein. Our study demonstrates the suitability of the chloroplast compartment as a production site for an EDIII-based vaccine candidate against dengue fever and presents a Gateway(®) plastid transformation vector for inducible transgene expression.

Plant Based Bioreactors of Recombinant Cytokines (Review)

Cytokines are a family of signaling polypeptides involved in intercellular interactions in the process of the immune response, as well as in the regulation of a number of normal physiological functions. Cytokines are used in medicine for the treatment of cancer, immune disorders, viral infections, and other socially significant diseases, but the extent of their use is limited by the high production cost of the active agent. The development of this area of pharmacology is associated with the success of genetic engineering, which allows the production of significant amounts of protein by transgenic organisms. The review discusses the latest advances in the production of various cytokines with the use of genetically modified plants.

Phaseolin expression in tobacco chloroplast reveals an autoregulatory mechanism in heterologous protein translation

Plastid DNA engineering is a well-established research area of plant biotechnology, and plastid transgenes often give high expression levels. However, it is still almost impossible to predict the accumulation rate of heterologous protein in transplastomic plants, and there are many cases of unsuccessful transgene expression. Chloroplasts regulate their proteome at the post-transcriptional level, mainly through translation control. One of the mechanisms to modulate the translation has been described in plant chloroplasts for the chloroplast-encoded subunits of multiprotein complexes, and the autoregulation of the translation initiation of these subunits depends on the availability of their assembly partners [control by epistasy of synthesis (CES)]. In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, autoregulation of endogenous proteins recruited in the assembly of functional complexes has also been reported. In this study, we revealed a self-regulation mechanism triggered by the accumulation of a soluble recombinant protein, phaseolin, in the stroma of chloroplast-transformed tobacco plants. Immunoblotting experiments showed that phaseolin could avoid this self-regulation mechanism when targeted to the thylakoids in transplastomic plants. To inhibit the thylakoid-targeted phaseolin translation as well, this protein was expressed in the presence of a nuclear version of the phaseolin gene with a transit peptide. Pulse-chase and polysome analysis revealed that phaseolin mRNA translation on plastid ribosomes was repressed due to the accumulation in the stroma of the same soluble polypeptide imported from the cytosol. We suggest that translation autoregulation in chloroplast is not limited to heteromeric protein subunits but also involves at least some of the foreign soluble recombinant proteins, leading to the inhibition of plastome-encoded transgene expression in chloroplast.

Overexpression of the olive acyl carrier protein gene (OeACP1) produces alterations in fatty acid composition of tobacco leaves

Taking into account that fatty acid (FA) biosynthesis plays a crucial role in lipid accumulation in olive (Olea europaea L.) mesocarp, we investigated the effect of olive acyl carrier protein (ACP) on FA composition by overexpressing an olive ACP cDNA in tobacco plants. The OeACP1.1A cDNA was inserted in the nucleus or in the chloroplast DNA of different tobacco plants, resulting in extensive transcription of the transgenes. The transplastomic plants accumulated lower olive ACP levels in comparison to nuclear-transformed plants. Moreover, the phenotype of the former plants was characterized by pale green/white cotyledons with abnormal chloroplasts, delayed germination and reduced growth. We suggest that the transplastomic phenotype was likely caused by inefficient olive ACP mRNA translation in chloroplast stroma. Conversely, total lipids from leaves of nuclear transformants expressing high olive ACP levels showed a significant increase in oleic acid (18:1) and linolenic acid (18:3), and a concomitant significant reduction of hexadecadienoic acid (16:2) and hexadecatrienoic acid (16:3). This implies that in leaves of tobacco transformants, as likely in the mesocarp of olive fruit, olive ACP not only plays a general role in FA synthesis, but seems to be specifically involved in chain length regulation forwarding the elongation to C18 FAs and the subsequent desaturation to 18:1 and 18:3.

A mutant Synechococcus gene encoding glutamate 1-semialdehyde aminotransferase confers gabaculine resistance when expressed in tobacco plastids

KEY MESSAGE

A mutant glutamate 1-semialdehyde aminotransferase gene from the Synechococcus , inserted into tobacco plastid DNA by means of particle bombardment and antibiotic selection, conferred gabaculine resistance allowing to attain homoplasmy. Many plant species are recalcitrant to plastid genome transformation. New selections systems may help to overcome this limitation and to extend the application of this technology. A mutant hemL gene from the photosynthetic cyanobacterium Synechococcus, encoding a gabaculine-insensitive glutamate 1-semialdehyde aminotransferase (GSA), is an efficient selectable marker gene for nuclear transformation of tobacco, alfalfa and durum wheat. Since GSA functions in the plastid, we introduced the mutant hemL gene into the tobacco plastid genome along with the conventional antibiotic resistance aadA gene, in the attempt to develop a new selection system for plastome transformation. Although we were unable to directly regenerate gabaculine resistant transplastomic plants, we demonstrated the functionality of hemL in tobacco plastids by using gabaculine selection in the second and third rounds of in vitro selection that permitted to obtain the homoplasmic state in transgenic plants. Thus, the mutant hemL gene functions as a secondary selection marker in tobacco plastids. Our results encourage further attempts to test gabaculine resistant GSA for plastome transformation of crop plants in which gabaculine has stronger regeneration-inhibiting effects with respect to tobacco.

Engineering plastid genomes: methods, tools, and applications in basic research and biotechnology

The small bacterial-type genome of the plastid (chloroplast) can be engineered by genetic transformation, generating cells and plants with transgenic plastid genomes, also referred to as transplastomic plants. The transformation process relies on homologous recombination, thereby facilitating the site-specific alteration of endogenous plastid genes as well as the precisely targeted insertion of foreign genes into the plastid DNA. The technology has been used extensively to analyze chloroplast gene functions and study plastid gene expression at all levels in vivo. Over the years, a large toolbox has been assembled that is now nearly comparable to the techniques available for plant nuclear transformation and that has enabled new applications of transplastomic technology in basic and applied research. This review describes the state of the art in engineering the plastid genomes of algae and land plants (Embryophyta). It provides an overview of the existing tools for plastid genome engineering, discusses current technological limitations, and highlights selected applications that demonstrate the immense potential of chloroplast transformation in several key areas of plant biotechnology.

Plastid genomics in horticultural species: importance and applications for plant population genetics, evolution, and biotechnology

During the evolution of the eukaryotic cell, plastids, and mitochondria arose from an endosymbiotic process, which determined the presence of three genetic compartments into the incipient plant cell. After that, these three genetic materials from host and symbiont suffered several rearrangements, bringing on a complex interaction between nuclear and organellar gene products. Nowadays, plastids harbor a small genome with ∼130 genes in a 100-220 kb sequence in higher plants. Plastid genes are mostly highly conserved between plant species, being useful for phylogenetic analysis in higher taxa. However, intergenic spacers have a relatively higher mutation rate and are important markers to phylogeographical and plant population genetics analyses. The predominant uniparental inheritance of plastids is like a highly desirable feature for phylogeny studies. Moreover, the gene content and genome rearrangements are efficient tools to capture and understand evolutionary events between different plant species. Currently, genetic engineering of the plastid genome (plastome) offers a number of attractive advantages as high-level of foreign protein expression, marker gene excision, gene expression in operon and transgene containment because of maternal inheritance of plastid genome in most crops. Therefore, plastid genome can be used for adding new characteristics related to synthesis of metabolic compounds, biopharmaceutical, and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Here, we describe the importance and applications of plastid genome as tools for genetic and evolutionary studies, and plastid transformation focusing on increasing the performance of horticultural species in the field.

The Induction of Recombinant Protein Bodies in Different Subcellular Compartments Reveals a Cryptic Plastid-Targeting Signal in the 27-kDa γ-Zein Sequence

Naturally occurring storage proteins such as zeins are used as fusion partners for recombinant proteins because they induce the formation of ectopic storage organelles known as protein bodies (PBs) where the proteins are stabilized by intermolecular interactions and the formation of disulfide bonds. Endogenous PBs are derived from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Here, we have used different targeting sequences to determine whether ectopic PBs composed of the N-terminal portion of mature 27 kDa γ-zein added to a fluorescent protein could be induced to form elsewhere in the cell. The addition of a transit peptide for targeting to plastids causes PB formation in the stroma, whereas in the absence of any added targeting sequence PBs were typically associated with the plastid envelope, revealing the presence of a cryptic plastid-targeting signal within the γ-zein cysteine-rich domain. The subcellular localization of the PBs influences their morphology and the solubility of the stored recombinant fusion protein. Our results indicate that the biogenesis and budding of PBs does not require ER-specific factors and therefore, confirm that γ-zein is a versatile fusion partner for recombinant proteins offering unique opportunities for the accumulation and bioencapsulation of recombinant proteins in different subcellular compartments.

Translational fusion and redirection to thylakoid lumen as strategies to enhance accumulation of human papillomavirus E7 antigen in tobacco chloroplasts

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the causal agent of cervical cancer, one of the most common causes of death in women worldwide, and its E7 antigen is the major candidate for a therapeutic vaccine. The large scale production of E7 by molecular farming that would lead to the development of a safe and inexpensive vaccine is impaired by its low accumulation level in the plant cell. To enhance antigen production in the plastids, two alternative strategies were carried out: the expression of E7 as a translational fusion to β-glucuronidase enzyme and redirection of E7 into the thylakoid lumen. The use of the β-glucuronidase as a partner protein turned out to be a successful strategy, antigen expression levels were enhanced between 30 and 40 times relative to unfused E7. Moreover, best accumulation, albeit at a high metabolic cost that compromised biomass production, was obtained redirecting E7 into the thylakoid lumen by the incorporation of the N-terminal transit peptide, Str. Following this approach lumenal E7 production exceeded the stromal by two orders of magnitude. Our results highlight the relevance of exploring different strategies to improve recombinant protein stability for certain transgenes in order to exploit potential advantages of recombinant protein accumulation in chloroplasts.

Construction of novel chloroplast expression vector and development of an efficient transformation system for the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum

Plastids are ideal subcellular hosts for the expression of transgenes and have been successfully used for the production of different biopolymers, therapeutic proteins and industrial enzymes. Phaeodactylum tricornutum is a widely used aquatic feed species. In this study, we focused on developing a high-efficiency plastid expression system for P. tricornutum. In the plastid transformation vector, the site selected for integration was the transcriptionally active intergenic region present between the trnI and trnA genes, located in the IR (inverted repeat) regions of the plastid genome. Initially, a CAT reporter gene (encoding chloramphenicol acetyltransferase) was integrated at this site in the plastid genome. The expression of CAT in the transformed microalgae conferred resistance to the antibiotic chloramphenicol, which enabled growth in the selection media. Overall, the plastid transformation efficiency was found to be approximately one transplastomic colony per 1,000 microalgae cells. Subsequently, a heterologous gene expression cassette for high-level expression of the target gene was created and cloned between the homologous recombination elements. A TA cloning strategy based on the designed XcmI-XcmI sites could conveniently clone the heterologous gene. An eGFP (green fluorescent protein) reporter gene was used to test the expression level in the plastid system. The relatively high-level expression of eGFP without codon optimisation in stably transformed microalgae was determined to account for 0.12 % of the total soluble protein. Thus, this study presents the first and convenient plastid gene expression system for diatoms and represents an interesting tool to study diatom plastids.

Transplastomic integration of a cyanobacterial bicarbonate transporter into tobacco chloroplasts

Improving global yields of agricultural crops is a complex challenge with evidence indicating benefits in productivity are achieved by enhancing photosynthetic carbon assimilation. Towards improving rates of CO2 capture within leaf chloroplasts, this study shows the versatility of plastome transformation for expressing the Synechococcus PCC7002 BicA bicarbonate transporter within tobacco plastids. Fractionation of chloroplast membranes from transplastomic tob(BicA) lines showed that ~75% of the BicA localized to the thylakoid membranes and ~25% to the chloroplast envelope. BicA levels were highest in young emerging tob(BicA) leaves (0.12 μmol m(-2), ≈7mg m(-2)) accounting for ~0.1% (w/w) of the leaf protein. In these leaves, the molar amount of BicA was 16-fold lower than the abundant thylakoid photosystem II D1 protein (~1.9 μmol m(-2)) which was comparable to the 9:1 molar ratio of D1:BicA measured in air-grown Synechococcus PCC7002 cells. The BicA produced had no discernible effect on chloroplast ultrastructure, photosynthetic CO2-assimilation rates, carbon isotope discrimination, or growth of the tob(BicA) plants, implying that the bicarbonate transporter had little or no activity. These findings demonstrate the utility of plastome transformation for targeting bicarbonate transporter proteins into the chloroplast membranes without impeding growth or plastid ultrastructure. This study establishes the span of experimental measurements required to verify heterologous bicarbonate transporter function and location in chloroplasts and underscores the need for more detailed understanding of BicA structure and function to identify solutions for enabling its activation and operation in leaf chloroplasts.

Production of functional native human interleukin-2 in tobacco chloroplasts

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is an important T lymphocyte-derived cytokine in the mammalian immune system. Non-native, recombinant IL-2 derived from Escherichia coli is used widely in both medical research and treatment of diseases. Recombinant human IL-2 gene has been expressed in plant nuclear genomes, therefore it can be spread to the environment through pollen. Furthermore, all the plant-produced IL-2 reported thus far had been attached with artificial tags or fusion proteins, which may trigger unintended immunological responses and therefore compromise its full utility as a medicine. To expand the potential of using plant chloroplasts to produce functional native human therapeutic proteins, we inserted an engineered human interleukin-2 (hIL-2)-coding gene, without any tags, into the chloroplast genome of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.). Partially purified hIL-2 protein from the leaves of the transplastomic plants induced in vitro proliferation of IL-2-dependent murine T lymphocytes. Our study demonstrates that plant chloroplasts can serve as a bio-factory for production of an active native human interleukin in a self-contained and therefore environmentally safe manner.

Genetic engineering of the chloroplast: novel tools and new applications

The plastid genome represents an attractive target of genetic engineering in crop plants. Plastid transgenes often give high expression levels, can be stacked in operons and are largely excluded from pollen transmission. Recent research has greatly expanded our toolbox for plastid genome engineering and many new proof-of-principle applications have highlighted the enormous potential of the transplastomic technology in both crop improvement and the development of plants as bioreactors for the sustainable and cost-effective production of biopharmaceuticals, enzymes and raw materials for the chemical industry. This review describes recent technological advances with plastid transformation in seed plants. It focuses on novel tools for plastid genome engineering and transgene expression and summarizes progress with harnessing the potential of plastid transformation in biotechnology.

Comparison of membrane targeting strategies for the accumulation of the human immunodeficiency virus p24 protein in transgenic tobacco

Membrane anchorage was tested as a strategy to accumulate recombinant proteins in transgenic plants. Transmembrane domains of different lengths and topology were fused to the cytosolic HIV antigen p24, to promote endoplasmic reticulum (ER) residence or traffic to distal compartments of the secretory pathway in transgenic tobacco. Fusions to a domain of the maize seed storage protein γ-zein were also expressed, as a reference strategy that leads to very high stability via the formation of large polymers in the ER lumen. Although all the membrane anchored constructs were less stable compared to the zein fusions, residence at the ER membrane either as a type I fusion (where the p24 sequence is luminal) or a tail-anchored fusion (where the p24 sequence is cytosolic) resulted in much higher stability than delivery to the plasma membrane or intermediate traffic compartments. Delivery to the tonoplast was never observed. The inclusion of a thrombin cleavage site allowed for the quantitative in vitro recovery of p24 from all constructs. These results point to the ER as suitable compartment for the accumulation of membrane-anchored recombinant proteins in plants.

Chloroplast transformation for engineering of photosynthesis

Many efforts are underway to engineer improvements in photosynthesis to meet the challenges of increasing demands for food and fuel in rapidly changing environmental conditions. Various transgenes have been introduced into either the nuclear or plastid genomes in attempts to increase photosynthetic efficiency. We examine the current knowledge of the critical features that affect levels of expression of plastid transgenes and protein accumulation in transplastomic plants, such as promoters, 5' and 3' untranslated regions, RNA-processing sites, translation signals and amino acid sequences that affect protein turnover. We review the prior attempts to manipulate the properties of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (Rubisco) through plastid transformation. We illustrate how plastid operons could be created for expression of the multiple genes needed to introduce new pathways or enzymes to enhance photosynthetic rates or reduce photorespiration. We describe here the past accomplishments and future prospects for manipulating plant enzymes and pathways to enhance carbon assimilation through plastid transformation.