| Abstract Detail
Recent Topics Posters Engel, Michele [1], Donsky, Marc [2]. Characterization of gene expression of enzymes involved in bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by Pleurotus ostreatus . Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are prevalent environmental pollutants. Wood growing mushrooms are promising bioremediators of PAHs because many of the enzymes they secrete to degrade lignin are also capable of oxidizing PAHs. Biochemists have identified a number of enzymes used by Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushrooms) to degrade PAHs but, research on gene expression during PAH exposure/degradation is minimal. We examined the gene expression profiles of a number of genes whose protein products are proposed to be involved in PAH degradation. We examined gene expression using mycelium grown for several weeks on solid media in the presence of different concentrations of PAHs. We also grew mycelium in liquid culture supplemented with PAHs for brief periods of time and examined gene expression. The expression profiles for 6 phenol oxidases, 4 manganese peroxidases, NADH oxidoreductase and aryl alcohol oxidase were analyzed. There are distinct differences in the regulation of the different pox genes and the different Mn peroxidase genes at the level of transcript abundance as determined by quantitative PCR. In addition, mycelium growing on PAHs developed specific phenotypes that were not observed when grown on acetone alone. We suggest the coloration seen is due to melanin production. Future work will focus on identifying additional genes involved in biochemical pathways active in PAH degradation by, cDNA- amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis. cDNA-AFLP is a very versatile technique that does not require prior sequence knowledge of the genes and can be used to identify novel genes. Ultimately, this research will lead to a better understanding of PAH bioremediation and potentially identify novel genes.
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1 - University of Colorado Denver, Integrative Biology, P.O. Box 173364, Campus Box 171, Denver, CO, 80217, USA
2 - University of Colorado Denver, Chemistry
Keywords:
gene expression
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Pleurotus ostreatus.
Presentation Type: Recent Topics Poster
Session: P2
Location: Event Tent/Cliff Lodge
Date: Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: P2RT016
Abstract ID:1212 |
