TITLE:
Genomic Analysis of Anabaena variabilis Mutants PK17 and PK84 That Are Characterised by High Production of Molecular Hydrogen
AUTHORS:
Sergey V. Shestakov, Lidia E. Mikheeva, Andrey V. Mardanov, Nikolai V. Ravin, Konstantin G. Skryabin
KEYWORDS:
Cyanobacteria; Hydrogen Metabolism; Hydrogenases; Pyrosequencing; Mutants; Anabaena
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.3 No.4,
August
6,
2013
ABSTRACT: The use of cyanobacteria for producing
molecular hydrogen is one of the desirable tasks of photobiotechnology. Some
years ago, we isolated several chemically induced mutants of the
cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413 that exhibited a high level of H2-production; but the
genetic nature of these mutants remained unresolved. To reveal mutations that
could be responsible for enhancement of H2-production in two
independent mutants, PK17 and PK84, the pyrosequencing of their entire genomes
was performed. The results were analyzed on the basis of comparison with the
complete genome sequence of the reference strain Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413. The genomes of mutants PK17 and
RK84 contain 107 and 104 point deviations from the reference genome,
respectively. The most probable reason for the increase of H2-production
in mutant PK17 is the mutation identified in the gene hupL encoding the large subunit of uptake hydrogenase. A high level
of H2-production in mutant PK84 could be the result of a mutation in
a conserved part of the gene hypF,
which participates in the post-translation maturation of hydrogenase complexes.