Towards a Synthetic Chloroplast

The evolution of eukaryotic cells is widely agreed to have proceeded through a series of endosymbiotic events between larger cells and proteobacteria or cyanobacteria, leading to the formation of mitochondria or chloroplasts, respectively. Engineered endosymbiotic relationships between different species of cells are a valuable tool for synthetic biology, where engineered pathways based on two species could take advantage of the unique abilities of each mutualistic partner.We explored the possibility of using the photosynthetic bacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 as a platform for studying evolutionary dynamics and for designing two-species synthetic biological systems. We observed that the cyanobacteria were relatively harmless to eukaryotic host cells compared to Escherichia coli when injected into the embryos of zebrafish, Danio rerio, or taken up by mammalian macrophages. In addition, when engineered with invasin from Yersinia pestis and listeriolysin O from Listeria monocytogenes, S. elongatus was able to invade cultured mammalian cells and divide inside macrophages.Our results show that it is possible to engineer photosynthetic bacteria to invade the cytoplasm of mammalian cells for further engineering and applications in synthetic biology. Engineered invasive but non-pathogenic or immunogenic photosynthetic bacteria have great potential as synthetic biological devices

The influence of the landscape structure within buffer zones, catchment land use and instream environmental variables on mollusc communities in a medium-sized lowland river

The world’s freshwater molluscan fauna is facing unprecedented threats from habitat loss and degradation. Declines in native populations are mostly attributed to the human impact, which results in reduced water quality. The objectives of our survey were to analyse the structure of the mollusc communities in a medium-sized lowland river and to determine the most important environmental variables at different spatial scales, including landscape structure, catchment land use and instream environmental factors that influence their structure. Our survey showed that a medium-sized river, that flows through areas included in the European Ecological Natura 2000 Network Programme of protected sites, provides diverse instream habitats and niches that support 47 mollusc species including Unio crassus, a bivalve of Community interest, whose conservation requires the designation of a special conservation area under the Habitats Directive Natura 2000. This survey showed that mollusc communities are impacted by several environmental variables that act together at multiple scales. The landscape structure within buffer zones, catchment land use and instream environmental variables were all important and influenced the structure of mollusc communities. Therefore, they should all be taken into consideration in the future restoration of the river, future management projects and programmes for the conservation of biodiversity in running waters. The results of this study may be directly applicable for the rehabilitation of river ecosystems and are recommended to stakeholders in their future decision concerning landscape planning, monitoring species and their habitats, conservation plans and management in accordance with the requirements of sustainable development