ABSTRACT

Microalgae have recently attracted attention as potential low-cost platform for the production of a broad range of commercial products including biofuels, nutraceuticals, therapeutics, industrial chemicals and animal feeds [1]–[11]; and genome engineering will enable and enhance algaeproduced bio-products [1], [5], [6], [12]–[19]. However, while much has been written about the potential of transgenic microalgae, little of that potential has yet to be commercialized. A major obstacle to generating useful transgenic algae strains has been the lack of molecular tools and overall poor expression of heterologous genes from the nuclear genome of many microalgae species, at least partially due to rapid gene silencing [20]–[23]. For example, a set of validated vectors for targeting transgene products to specific subcellular locations do not exist, nor does the vector to allow the expression of multiple nuclear-encoded genes within a single cell.