Scientists find how clock gene wakes up green algae
The findings could be applied to making green algae produce more lipids -
- a possible source of biofuel

Date:
August 5, 2020
Source:
Nagoya University
Summary:
Researchers have found the mechanism of the night-to-day transition
of the circadian rhythm in green algae. The findings could be
applied to green algae to produce larger amounts of lipids, which
are a possible sustainable source of biofuel.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A team of researchers from Nagoya University, Japan, has found the
mechanism of the night-to-day transition of the circadian rhythm in
green algae. The findings, published in the journal PLOS Genetics,
could be applied to green algae to produce larger amounts of lipids,
which are a possible sustainable source of biofuel.


========================================================================== Green algae are photosynthetic organisms that live mainly in lakes and
ponds and produce lipids internally. Like most organisms, green algae
have a circadian clock, which regulates their daily photosynthetic
activities. The mechanism of their circadian clocks, however, had not
been previously explained.

The team of Takuya Matsuo of the Center for Gene Research and colleagues
at Nagoya University has been conducting studies on circadian clocks
using Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a species of freshwater green algae.

"We had previously found that a gene called ROC75 is involved in the
circadian rhythm of C. reinhardtii in some way," says Matsuo. In the
new study, the team further investigated the role of ROC75 in the same
species. The results suggest that the ROC75 gene functions from dawn
through the day and helps change the green alga's circadian phase from
night to daytime by suppressing the activity of night-phased clock genes.

To demonstrate it, the team artificially controlled the activity of
ROC75. When ROC75 was inhibited, the alga's circadian rhythm wasn't
observed. Then, when the activity of ROC75 was restored, the circadian
rhythm resumed. Also, through multiple experiments, the researchers found
that the alga's circadian clock restarted, ticking consistently just as if
the morning had come. The team thus concluded that ROC75 plays a crucial
role in changing green algae's circadian phase from night to daytime.

"This study showed that by controlling the activity of ROC75, we can wake
up green algae whenever we want and thereby enhance their photosynthetic activities. In this way, we could make green algae produce larger amounts
of lipids that can be converted into biofuel," says Matsuo.

"The role of ROC75 that we found may reflect a survival strategy used
by green algae after the species decided to continue to live in water
during its evolution. I believe this study takes a step forward in understanding the mechanism and the evolutionary history of circadian
clocks in green plants."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Nagoya_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Takuya Matsuo, Takahiro Iida, Ayumi Ohmura, Malavika Gururaj,
Daisaku
Kato, Risa Mutoh, Kunio Ihara, Masahiro Ishiura. The role of ROC75
as a daytime component of the circadian oscillator in Chlamydomonas
reinhardtii. PLOS Genetics, 2020; 16 (6): e1008814 DOI: 10.1371/
journal.pgen.1008814 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200805102021.htm

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