A novel glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) promoter for expressing transgenes in the halotolerant alga Dunaliella salina.

A major challenge for efficient transgene expression in Dunaliella salina is to find strong endogenous promoters to drive the transgene expression. In the present study, a novel glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) promoter was cloned and used to drive expressions of the bialaphos resistance (bar) gene and of the N-terminal fragment of human canstatin (Can-N). The results showed that the bar gene was transcribed by the GAPDH promoter and integrated into the genome of the transformants of D. salina. Furthermore, the PCR identification, Southern and western blots indicated that Can-N was expressed in transgenic D. salina, demonstrating that the promoter of the D. salina GAPDH gene is suitable for driving expression of heterologous genes in transgenic D. salina.