Tipping Points in Seaweed Genetic Engineering: Scaling Up Opportunities in the Next Decade

Marine Drugs

Hanzhi Lin¹ 

[1] Environmental Biophysics and Molecular Ecology Program, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, 71 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA

关键词: seaweed;    macroalgae;    genetic engineering;    GMO;    gene flow;    bio-safety;    marine algae;    transgenic algae;    expression system;   

DOI  :  10.3390/md12053025

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Seaweed genetic engineering is a transgenic expression system with unique features compared with those of heterotrophic prokaryotes and higher plants. This study discusses several newly sequenced seaweed nuclear genomes and the necessity that research on vector design should consider endogenous promoters, codon optimization, and gene copy number. Seaweed viruses and artificial transposons can be applied as transformation methods after acquiring a comprehensive understanding of the mechanism of viral infections in seaweeds and transposon patterns in seaweed genomes. After cultivating transgenic algal cells and tissues in a photobioreactor, a biosafety assessment of genetically modified (GM) seaweeds must be conducted before open-sea application. We propose a set of programs for the evaluation of gene flow from GM seaweeds to local/geographical environments. The effective implementation of such programs requires fundamentally systematic and interdisciplinary studies on algal physiology and genetics, marine hydrology, reproductive biology, and ecology.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.