Design of riboregulators for control of cyanobacterial (Synechocystis) protein expression

Cyanobacteria are attractive host bacteria for biofuel production because they can covert CO2 to biofuel lipids using only sunlight, water, and inorganic ions. For genetically engineering an ideal cyanobacterium, a synthetic biological approach is promising but few genetic components have been characterized in cyanobacteria. Here for controlling cyanobacterial protein expression, we constructed riboregulators, that one of the post-transcriptional regulators composed of RNAs. Riboregulators harboring a ribosome-binding site suitable for Synechocystis sp. were designed by trial and error using Escherichia coli as host bacteria. The designed riboregulators were effective in Synechocystis sp. as well as E. coli with slight interference on growth only observed in E. coli. They will therefore be useful tools for controlling target gene expression.