Researchers have made a major breakthrough in developing gene-editing tools to improve our understanding of one of the most important ocean microbes on the planet. The international project, co-led by scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK, unlocks the potential of the largest untapped genetic resource for the development of natural products such as novel antibacterial, antiviral, anti-parasitic and antifungal compounds.
Ocean microbes regulate global cycles of carbon and essential nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Despite their significance, government and industry funding is still largely used for research and development with non-marine organisms. This is partly due to a lack of awareness of the importance of marine microbes, limited understanding about their biology, as well as difficulties in accessing and sustainably exploiting them.
Unlike plants and animals, they are unicellular and of remarkable diversity. Some represent the origins of complex life forms on land, others such as photosynthetic protists, called phytoplankton, contribute almost as much to global annual carbon fixation as land plants. The study involved attempting to introduce foreign DNA into the host genomes of 39 protist species, in order to understand their gene functions and how they adapt to changes. Of these, more than 50% were genetically manipulated successfully, which will now enable researchers to carry out functional studies of thousands of new genes carried in their genomes.
Source: Science Daily
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