Eukaryotic and Archaeal Genome Replication

Eukaryotic and Archaeal Genome Replication and Expression

• Approximately 140 million tons of plastics are purchased each year and most are discarded.
• Plastics take thousands of years to degrade.
• 150 million tons of fossil fuels are used to produce plastics annually.
• Microbes could potentially solve the plastic waste problem.
• Plastics are organic polymers (polyurethane, polystyrene, polyethylene, polyester).
• Bacteria and archaea produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) as a way to store carbon (a type of plastic).
• Bacteria and archaea can use the PHA when carbon is scarce, and they have enzymes to break down PHA.
• Microbiologists have optimized PHA production by bacteria - up to 80% of cellular dry weight.
• The cost of feeding bacteria to produce PHA makes it expensive.
• Utilizing algae (diatoms) as a platform for producing PHA is more cost-effective and avoids ethical problems.
• Researchers in 2011 demonstrated that the PHB genes could be introduced into diatoms.
• However, the next steps include maximizing PHB production and optimizing gene expression for diatoms (eukaryotic organisms).
• Microbiologists need to modify PHB genes so they are transcribed at a high rate and recognized by the eukaryotic ribosomes.
• Geneticists and molecular biologists have studied plant and yeast systems for insights into guiding this process for diatoms.