Current progress of targetron technology: development, improvement and application in metabolic engineering.
Targetrons are mobile group II introns that can recognize their DNA target sites by base-pairing RNA-DNA interactions with the aid of site-specific binding reverse transcriptases. Targetron technology stands out from recently developed gene targeting methods because of the flexibility, feasibility, and efficiency, and is particularly suitable for the genetic engineering of difficult microorganisms, including cellulolytic bacteria that are considered promising candidates for biomass conversion via consolidated bioprocessing. Along with the development of the thermotargetron method for thermophiles, targetron technology becomes increasingly important for the metabolic engineering of industrial microorganisms aiming at biofuel/chemical production. To summarize the current progress of targetron technology and provide new insights on the use of the technology, this paper reviews the retrohoming mechanisms of both mesophilic and thermophilic targetron methods based on various group II introns, investigates the improvement of targetron tools for high target efficiency and specificity, and discusses the current applications in the metabolic engineering for bacterial producers. Although there are still intellectual property and technical restrictions in targetron applications, we propose that targetron technology will contribute to both biochemistry research and the metabolic engineering for industrial productions.
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, P.R. China.|Qingdao Engineering Laboratory of Single Cell Oil, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, P.R. China.
Ya-Jun
YJ
Liu
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, P.R. China.|Qingdao Engineering Laboratory of Single Cell Oil, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, P.R. China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
Jie
J
Zhang
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, P.R. China.|Qingdao Engineering Laboratory of Single Cell Oil, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, P.R. China.
Gu-Zhen
GZ
Cui
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Genetics, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, P.R. China. cuiqiu@qibebt.ac.cn.|Qingdao Engineering Laboratory of Single Cell Oil, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, P.R. China. cuiqiu@qibebt.ac.cn.|Key Laboratory of Biofuels, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, P.R. China. cuiqiu@qibebt.ac.cn.
Qiu
Q
Cui
D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology; D018390:Gene Targeting / Q000379:methods*; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics*; D060847:Metabolic Engineering / Q000379:methods*
Biomass; Biorefinery; Consolidated bioprocessing; Group II intron; Metabolic engineering