Abstract:

The complexity of biological systems poses challenges for the construction of biological components. The discovery of new control parts and the design of stable and adjustable parts have become one of the important contents of synthetic biology. Acted as a genetic part independently of the coding gene to terminate transcription,a terminator is an important biological part for tuning gene expression when designing synthetic gene networks. The activity of terminator can be strong or weak, thus the choice of terminator will directly affect the amount of mRNA produced. With the gradual clarification of the structure and function on terminator and in-depth analysis of the mechanism of transcription termination, terminator engineering has been rapidly developed to construct shorter, controllable and designable terminators. In this review, the progress about the structural discovery, functional characterization, and transcription termination mechanism of terminator in Saccharomyces cerevisiae are systematically summarized. The artificial design of terminator and its application in the field of fine regulation of pathway engineering are discussed. The challenges and possible solutions for terminator engineering, potential and significance for developing terminator engineering in non-model yeast are also prospected. This review provides a theoretical guidance for researchers to develop synthetic biological elements and optimization of heterologous synthetic pathways.

Key words: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, terminator, mRNA processing, transcription termination, metabolic pathway regulation

摘要：

生物系统的复杂性为生物元器件的构建提出了挑战，新型控制元件的发现和稳定可调节的元件设计成为合成生物学的重要内容之一。终止子作为基因元件独立于编码基因行使终止转录的功能，是一种重要的合成生物学控制元件。研究表明终止子作用有强有弱，终止子的选择会直接影响mRNA的量，并且随着终止子结构与功能的逐渐清晰和对转录终止机理的深入解析，以短小、可控、可设计为特征的终止子工程得以快速发展。本文以常规酿酒酵母为基础，系统总结了酿酒酵母中终止子元件在结构发现、功能表征、转录终止机理方面的最新研究进展，并讨论了终止子的人工设计及在途径工程精细调控领域的应用情况，展望了终止子工程面临的挑战、可能的解决途径及在非模式酵母中发展的潜力和意义。这为研究人员开发合成生物学元件和异源合成途径优化提供了科学的理论参考。

关键词: 酿酒酵母, 终止子, mRNA加工, 转录终止, 代谢途径调控