Prof. James W. Golden from University of California, San Diego visited IHB on June 27, 2018. 

At the invitation of the Key Laboratory of Algal Biology of Chinese Academy of Sciences under Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. James W. Golden from University of California, San Diego paid a visit to Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of Chinese Academy of Sciences on June 27, 2018. During his visit, he gave a lecture with the title of “BROAD-HOST-RANGE GENETIC TOOLS FOR CYANOBACTERIA AND HETEROLOGOUS EXPRESSION OF NATURAL PRODUCTS”. 

Prof. Golden’s group improved genetic tools for cyanobacteria and provide new opportunities for scientific research and biotechnology. They developed a set of broad host range standardized genetic parts and devices for genetic modification and engineering of diverse cyanobacterial strains.  

The parts and devices are carried in a library of donor vectors. These donor vectors contain origins of replication for E. coli, origins of transfer for conjugation, origins of replication and neutral sites for various cyanobacteria, antibiotic-resistance markers, expression cassettes with different promoters, and reporter cassettes. This library of donor vectors allows the construction of modular shuttle vectors, designed for the component parts to be easily replaced or additional parts to be easily inserted.  

Different types of vectors can be assembled, including autonomously replicating vectors and integrating vectors for gene knockout and gene expression from the chromosome. Assembled modular vectors allowed a thorough characterization of different genetic parts and devices in several diverse cyanobacterial strains. These tools have the potential to greatly accelerate both basic and applied researches using cyanobacteria.