PARENT SESSION
Posters P8D Artificial photosynthesis and biological hydrogen production. Abstracts (759-769)

Transcriptional regulation of the bidirectional NiFe-hydrogenase in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Kirstin Gutekunst^*,, Saranya Phunpruch¹, Rüdiger Schulz-Friedrich¹, Jens Appel¹, ¹ Botanisches Institut, Kiel, Germany

ABSTRACT- The bidirectional NiFe-hydrogenase of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 is encoded by five genes (hoxEFUYH) that are organized in one gene cluster. It was shown through RT-PCR that all hox genes are transcribed as one unit. A mutant with a deletion in the supposed promotor region upstream of hoxE exhibits as expected a decreased hydrogenase activity. Several DNA fragments from this region were ligated into a promotor probe vector carrying the reporter genes luxAB. The corresponding mutants were measured to further characterize the promotor. The luciferase measurements as well as a band-shift-assay revealed a region binding a protein which is thought to be an transcription factor. Further characterizations of the protein at the binding site are in progress.

KEY WORDS: promotor, hydrogenase