• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News

Hydrogen production: This is how green algae assemble their enzymes

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
March 27, 2017
in Science News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram
IMAGE

Credit: RUB, Kramer

Researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum have analysed how green algae manufacture complex components of a hydrogen-producing enzyme. The enzyme, known as the hydrogenase, may be relevant for the biotechnological production of hydrogen.

To date, little is known about the way organisms form this type of hydrogenases under natural conditions. Using novel synthetic biology methods, the team around Dr Anne Sawyer, PhD student Yu Bai, assistant professor Dr Anja Hemschemeier and Prof Dr Thomas Happe from the Bochum-based research group Photobiotechnology, discovered that a specific protein machinery in the green algal chloroplasts is required for the production of a functional hydrogenase. The researchers published their findings in "The Plant Journal".

Complex structure

The team worked with the single-cell alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. These organisms have a specific protein machinery in different regions of the cells that assembles enzymes – e.g. in the photosynthesis-conducting chloroplasts and in the cell fluid, i.e. the cytoplasm.

One enzyme that requires such assembly is the HYDA1 enzyme, which contains a complex cofactor, which is the area inside the enzyme where the actual hydrogen production takes place. The cofactor consists of a cluster of four iron and four sulphur atoms; a configuration frequently found in enzymes. What is unusual, however, is that a second cluster of two additional iron atoms binds to it for the hydrogen catalysis.

Special protein machinery necessary

Happe, Sawyer and their colleagues intended to identify the elements necessary for producing the cofactor in the living cell. They introduced hydrogenase precursors in different regions of the green algal cell, namely in the chloroplast and the cytoplasm. The protein machinery in the chloroplast was the only one capable of assembling a functioning hydrogenase. The machinery in the cytoplasm couldn't produce the complex cofactor.

Bacterial enzyme in green algae

In a subsequent test, the researchers implanted the blueprint of a bacterial hydrogenase in the green algal genome. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii used it to produce a functional enzyme that efficiently generated hydrogen.

"Based on these findings, we can develop biotechnological methods, in order to achieve efficient hydrogen production in green algae," says Happe. "We now know that the machinery that assembles enzymes in the chloroplasts is unique and irreplaceable."

###

Media Contact

Thomas Happe
[email protected]
49-234-322-7026
@ruhrunibochum

http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de

############

Story Source: Materials provided by Scienmag

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

blank

Advanced AI ECG Technology Enhances Detection of Severe Heart Attacks in Emergency Situations

October 28, 2025
blank

Autistic Traits Shape Social Attention in India

October 28, 2025

Evaluating Deep Reinforcement Learning for Portfolio Optimization

October 28, 2025

Allison Institute’s Third Annual Scientific Symposium Features Panel Discussion with Five Nobel Laureates

October 28, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Sperm MicroRNAs: Crucial Mediators of Paternal Exercise Capacity Transmission

    1288 shares
    Share 514 Tweet 322
  • Stinkbug Leg Organ Hosts Symbiotic Fungi That Protect Eggs from Parasitic Wasps

    311 shares
    Share 124 Tweet 78
  • ESMO 2025: mRNA COVID Vaccines Enhance Efficacy of Cancer Immunotherapy

    198 shares
    Share 79 Tweet 50
  • New Study Suggests ALS and MS May Stem from Common Environmental Factor

    135 shares
    Share 54 Tweet 34

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Advanced AI ECG Technology Enhances Detection of Severe Heart Attacks in Emergency Situations

Autistic Traits Shape Social Attention in India

Evaluating Deep Reinforcement Learning for Portfolio Optimization

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 67 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.