| The novel anaerobically induced ferredoxin of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii |
| Jessica Jacobs, Anja Hemschemeier and Thomas Happe |
| Biochemie der Pflanzen, AG Photobiotechnologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätstraße 150, D-44801 Bochum, Germany |
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In addition to the gene encoding for the photosynthetic ferredoxin PetF, we have found a further ferredoxin encoding gene (fdxA) in the unicelullar green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The analysis of the transcription pattern of this novel ferredoxin gene upon sulphur deprivation as well as in artificially established anaerobic conditions revealed a high upregulation. The strong increase of the fdxA transcript level indicates a vitale role of this novel protein in the special physiology of anaerobic C. reinhardtii cultures, which is marked by a bacterial type fermentation system [1] and a sustained and strong hydrogen production [2,3,4]. This study shows the first biochemical characterisation of FdxA, which has been heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli and purified via StrepTag-chromatography. The purified protein was used for the production of antibodies, which allowed the detection of FdxA on protein level and the homologous purification of the native protein.
[1] Hemschemeier and Happe (2005), Biochem Soc Trans., 39-41 |
| e-mail address of presenting author: jessica.jacobs@ruhr-uni-bochum.de |