Developing a media formulation to sustain ex vivo chloroplast function
Chloroplasts are critical organelles in plants and algae responsible for accumulating biomass through photosynthetic carbon fixation and cellular maintenance through metabolism in the cell. Chloroplasts are increasingly appreciated for their role in biomanufacturing, as they can produce many useful...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2025.1560200/full |
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| author | Mariam Mohagheghi Ali Navid Thomas Mossington Congwang Ye Matthew A. Coleman Steven Hoang-Phou |
| author_facet | Mariam Mohagheghi Ali Navid Thomas Mossington Congwang Ye Matthew A. Coleman Steven Hoang-Phou |
| author_sort | Mariam Mohagheghi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Chloroplasts are critical organelles in plants and algae responsible for accumulating biomass through photosynthetic carbon fixation and cellular maintenance through metabolism in the cell. Chloroplasts are increasingly appreciated for their role in biomanufacturing, as they can produce many useful molecules, and a deeper understanding of chloroplast regulation and function would provide more insight for the biotechnological applications of these organelles. However, traditional genetic approaches to manipulate chloroplasts are slow, and generation of transgenic organisms to study their function can take weeks to months, significantly delaying the pace of research. To develop chloroplasts themselves as a quicker and more defined platform, we isolated chloroplasts from the green algae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and examined their photosynthetic function after extraction. Combined with a metabolic modeling approach using flux-balance analysis, we identified key metabolic reactions essential to chloroplast function and leveraged this information into reagents that can be used in a “chloroplast media” capable of maintaining chloroplast photosynthetic function over time ex vivo compared to buffer alone. We envision this could serve as a model platform to enable more rapid design-build-test-learn cycles to study and improve chloroplast function in combination with genetic modifications and potentially as a starting point for the bottom-up design of a synthetic organelle-containing cell. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bf78c34828dc4e818d6abaa197246b6f |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2296-4185 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology |
| spelling | doaj-art-bf78c34828dc4e818d6abaa197246b6f2025-08-20T03:06:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology2296-41852025-04-011310.3389/fbioe.2025.15602001560200Developing a media formulation to sustain ex vivo chloroplast functionMariam Mohagheghi0Ali Navid1Thomas Mossington2Congwang Ye3Matthew A. Coleman4Steven Hoang-Phou5Biosciences and Biotechnology Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United StatesBiosciences and Biotechnology Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United StatesDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular & Cellular Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United StatesMaterials Engineering Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United StatesBiosciences and Biotechnology Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United StatesBiosciences and Biotechnology Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, United StatesChloroplasts are critical organelles in plants and algae responsible for accumulating biomass through photosynthetic carbon fixation and cellular maintenance through metabolism in the cell. Chloroplasts are increasingly appreciated for their role in biomanufacturing, as they can produce many useful molecules, and a deeper understanding of chloroplast regulation and function would provide more insight for the biotechnological applications of these organelles. However, traditional genetic approaches to manipulate chloroplasts are slow, and generation of transgenic organisms to study their function can take weeks to months, significantly delaying the pace of research. To develop chloroplasts themselves as a quicker and more defined platform, we isolated chloroplasts from the green algae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and examined their photosynthetic function after extraction. Combined with a metabolic modeling approach using flux-balance analysis, we identified key metabolic reactions essential to chloroplast function and leveraged this information into reagents that can be used in a “chloroplast media” capable of maintaining chloroplast photosynthetic function over time ex vivo compared to buffer alone. We envision this could serve as a model platform to enable more rapid design-build-test-learn cycles to study and improve chloroplast function in combination with genetic modifications and potentially as a starting point for the bottom-up design of a synthetic organelle-containing cell.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2025.1560200/fullchloroplastChlamydomonas reinhardtiimetabolic modelingphotosynthesisflux balance analysis (FBA)media formulation |
| spellingShingle | Mariam Mohagheghi Ali Navid Thomas Mossington Congwang Ye Matthew A. Coleman Steven Hoang-Phou Developing a media formulation to sustain ex vivo chloroplast function Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology chloroplast Chlamydomonas reinhardtii metabolic modeling photosynthesis flux balance analysis (FBA) media formulation |
| title | Developing a media formulation to sustain ex vivo chloroplast function |
| title_full | Developing a media formulation to sustain ex vivo chloroplast function |
| title_fullStr | Developing a media formulation to sustain ex vivo chloroplast function |
| title_full_unstemmed | Developing a media formulation to sustain ex vivo chloroplast function |
| title_short | Developing a media formulation to sustain ex vivo chloroplast function |
| title_sort | developing a media formulation to sustain ex vivo chloroplast function |
| topic | chloroplast Chlamydomonas reinhardtii metabolic modeling photosynthesis flux balance analysis (FBA) media formulation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2025.1560200/full |
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