In eukaryotes, the repair of DSBs is accomplished through two broadly defined processes: Non-Homologous End Joining (NHEJ) and Homologous Recombination (HR). The central step of HR is pairing and exchange of strands between two homologous DNA molecules, which is catalyzed by the conserved Rad51/RecA family of proteins. Prior to this step, an essential step in all HR pathways i.e. 5'→3' resection of broken DNA ends to generate 3' single stranded DNA tails. At the molecular level, initiation of DNA end resection is accomplished through the concerted action of MRX complex (Mre11, Rad50 and Xrs2) and Sae2 protein. To elucidate the molecular basis underlying DSB end resection in S. cerevisiae mre11 nuclease deficient mutants, we have performed a comprehensive analysis of the role of S. cerevisiae Mre11 (henceforth called as ScMre11) in the processing of DSB ends using a variety of DNA substrates. We observed that S. cerevisiae Mre11(ScMre11) exhibits higher binding affinity for single- over double-stranded DNA and intermediates of recombination and repair and catalyzes robust unwinding of substrates possessing a3' single-stranded DNA overhang but not of 5' overhangs or blunt-ended DNA fragments. Furthermore, reconstitution of DSB end resection network in-vitro revealed that Rad50, Xrs2, and Sae2 potentiated the DNA unwinding activity of Mre11. Since the exonuclease activity of Mre11 is of the opposite polarity to that expected for resection of DSBs, unwinding activity of Mre11 in conjunction with Rad50, Xrs2, and Sae2 might provide an alternate mechanism for the generation of ssDNA intermediates for DSB end repair and HR. Additionally, ScMre11 displays strong homotypic as well as heterotypic interaction with Sae2. In summary, our results revealed important insights into the mechanism of DSB end processing and support a model in which Sae2, Rad50, and Xrs2 positively regulate the ScMre11-mediated DNA unwinding activity via their direct interactions or through allosteric effects on the DNA or cofactors. Prompted by the closer association of MRX and Sae2 during DSB end processing, we asked whether Sae2 and its endonuclease activity is required for cellular response to replication stress caused by DNA damage. Toward this end, we examined the sensitivity of S. cerevisiae wild type, sae2Δ and various SAE2 mutant strains defective in phosphorylation and nuclease activity in the presence of different genotoxic agents, which directly or indirectly generate DSBs during replication. We found that S. cerevisiae lacking SAE2 show decreased cell viability, altered cell cycle dynamics after DNA damage, and more specifically, that Sae2 endonuclease activity is essential for these biological functions. To corroborate the genetic evidences for role of SAE2 during replicative stress, we investigated SAE2 functions in-vitro. For this, we purified native Sae2 protein and nuclease dead mutant of Sae2 i.e. sae2G270D. Our studies revealed dimeric forms of both the wild type and mutant forms of Sae2. Furthermore, Sae2 displays higher binding affinity and catalytic activity with branched DNA structures, such as Holliday junction and replication forks. By using nuclease dead Sae2 protein i.e. sae2G270D, we confirmed that the endonuclease activity is not fortuitous and is intrinsic to Sae2 polypeptide. Furthermore, nuclease-defective Mre11 stimulates Sae2endonuclease activity. Mapping of the cleavage sites of Sae2 revealed a distinct preference for cleavage on the 5' end of the Holliday junction, suggesting the importance of Sae2 nuclease during recombination mediated restart of the reversed replication fork. In summary, our data clearly demonstrate a previously uncharacterized role for Sae2 nuclease activity in resection of DSB ends, processing of intermediates of DNA replication/repair and attenuation of DNA replication stress-related defects in S. cerevisiae.

No description available.

Title: Homologous ferrocene phosphines Author: Bc. Petr Vosáhlo Department: Department of Inorganic Chemistry Supervisor: prof. RNDr. Petr Štěpnička, Ph.D., DSc. Abstract: This thesis describes the synthesis and coordination behaviour of ferrocene diphosphines derived from 1,1'-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene (dppf). Dppf is one of the most succesful ferrocene ligands, which can be used in various metal-catalyzed reactions. This study aimed to prepare analogous ligands with one dialkylphosphino substituent and one (diphenylphosphino)methyl group. These ligands were oxidized by KSeCN to afford the corresponding phosphinoselenides. The phosphinoselenides were used to assess sigma-donor abilities by measuring the coupling constant 1 JSeP via 31 P NMR spectroscopy. Lastly, the coordination behaviour of these ligands in palladium complexes was studied. The homologous ligands usually formed a mixtures containing a chelate complex and dimeric species with trans- coordinated ligands. Key words: ferrocene, phosphines, homologous ligands, palladium(II) complexes, structure elucidation.

Le xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) est une maladie génétique rare caractérisée par une hypersensibilité aux ultraviolets (UV) et une forte incidence des tumeurs cutanées. Les cellules des patients XP sont incapables d’éliminer les lésions induites dans l’ADN par les UV en raison d’un dysfonctionnement du mécanisme de réparation par excision de nucléotides (NER). Plusieurs groupes de complémentation ont été identifiés dans le syndrome XP, parmi lesquels le groupe XP-C représente la majorité des patients à travers le monde.Au cours de mon travail de thèse, j’ai développé un modèle de correction ciblée par recombinaison homologue (RH) d’une délétion de deux nucléotides au niveau de l’exon 9 du gène XPC aboutissant à l’apparition prématurée d’un codon stop. Afin de stimuler la RH, deux types de nucléases ingéniérées sont utilisées : les méganucléases et les TALENs. J’ai observé que la méthylation de la séquence ciblée pouvait affecter l’activité de celles-ci et donc l’efficacité du ciblage de gène. Cependant, deux approches ont été développées pour résoudre ce problème : l’utilisation d’un agent déméthylant (5-aza-2’-désoxycytidine (5azadC)) ou la création d’une endonucléase insensible à la méthylation. L’utilisation des méganucléases en combinaison avec la 5azadC a permis de stimuler la fréquence de coupure de presque 20 fois dans des fibroblastes XPC et la TALEN modifiée permet une augmentation de 40 fois. Avec ces deux stratégies j’ai obtenu des événements de correction génétique par introduction d’une matrice de réparation dans le locus ciblé avec une fréquence proche de 3%. La caractérisation des clones corrigés avec la TALEN XPC montre la correction génomique des deux nucléotides dans l’exon 9, une restauration de l’expression de la protéine XPC et une résistance cellulaire après irradiation UV traduisant le rétablissement des fonctions de la NER. Cette étude représente la première preuve de correction génétique de cellules déficientes en protéine XPC en utilisant une approche ciblée. / Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare inherited genetic disorder characterized by an UV hypersensitivity and a severe predisposition to skin cancers. Cells from XP patients are deficient in nucleotide excision repair (NER) of UV‐induced DNA lesions. Several complementation groups have been identified in the XP syndrome and the XP-C group represents the majority of XP patients around the world. During my PhD work, I developed a model of targeted correction by homologous recombination (HR) in order to correct a deletion of two nucleotides in the ninth exon in XPC gene leading to a premature stop codon. To stimulate HR, I used two types of engineered endonucleases : meganucleases and TALEN. I observed that the target methylation status could affect the endonuclease activities and therefore XPC gene correction. Nervertheless, I developed two approaches to overcome this methylation sensitivity : use of a demethylating agent (5-aza-2-deoxycytidine (5azadC)) or a specific engineering of TALEN. Using 5azadC with meganuclease allowed to stimulate the cutting frequency by nearly 20 fold in XPC fibroblasts and the engineered TALEN allowed a 40 fold-increase in frequency. With both strategies I obtained genetic correction events by repair matrix introduction in the targeted locus with a near 3% frequency. The characterization of corrected clones with the XPC TALEN shows genomic correction in the ninth exon, a restoration of the XPC protein expression and cell survival following UV exposure, thus demonstrating fully recovered normal repair activity by NER. This study represents the first evidence of genetic correction of XPC-deficient cells by a targeted approach.

Sporisorium scitamineum é um fungo basidiomiceto causador do carvão da cana-de-açúcar, uma doença com impacto negativo no cultivo da cana-de-açúcar, e com ocorrência em todos os países produtores. A manifestação da doença na cultura da cana depende da formação de uma hifa dicariótica a partir da anastomose de duas hifas haplóides compatíveis com relação ao tipo de reação sexual (mating-type). O controle do cruzamento sexuado (mating) é realizado pela expressão de um conjunto de genes presentes em dois loci, a e b. O locus a codifica um lipopeptídeo com função de feromônio e um receptor de feromônio, responsáveis pelo reconhecimento de células compatíveis e fusão de hifas, enquanto o locus b codifica fatores de transcrição que controlam a expressão de genes responsáveis pela manutenção das hifas dicarióticas durante o processo de infecção e crescimento do fungo dentro da planta. Apesar de desempenharem função essencial no processo de infecção e manutenção da doença em cana-de-açúcar, o conhecimento a respeito da organização genômica ou da função dos demais genes presentes nos loci a e b em S. scitamineum e em outros fungos causadores de carvão é ainda incipiente. Desta forma, o objetivo geral do presente trabalho foi isolar as regiões genômicas relacionadas aos genes de cruzamento em S. scitamineum e analisar comparativamente com regiões similares já descritas e depositadas em bancos de dados públicos. Para o isolamento destas regiões, foi construída uma biblioteca genômica em BAC de uma linhagem haplóide de S. scitamineum, a Ssc39 (+), isolada de uma variedade de cana-de-açúcar com sintomas de alta susceptibilidade. Foram selecionados 11 clones por PCR. Os insertos foram sequenciados e utilizados para confirmação da montagem dos loci no sequenciamento do genoma do fungo. Apesar do fungo S. scitamineum apresentar sistema bipolar de reação sexual assim como o fungo U. hordei, as análises comparativas de ambos os locus indicaram que S. scitamineum apresenta maior similaridade com o fungo S. reilianum principalmente com o alelo a1, no qual apresenta sistema tetrapolar de reação sexual. A anotação e caracterização dos genes do tipo de reação sexual (mating type) possibilitaram a comparação e melhor entendimento sobre esses genes de grande importância na patogenicidade e no ciclo de vida do fungo. / Sporisorium scitamineum is a basidiomycete fungus causing the smut disease in sugarcane, with a negative impact on the cultivation of sugarcane, and occurring in all producing countries. The manifestation of the disease in sugarcane crop depends on the formation of a dikaryotic hyphae originated of the anastomosis of two haploid mating type compatible cells. The control of the sexual crossing (mating) is performed by expression of a set of genes present in two loci, a and b. The locus a encodes a lipopeptide with the function of pheromone and pheromone membrane receptor responsible for cell recognition and compatible hyphal fusion, whereas the locus b encodes transcription factors that control the expression of genes responsible for the maintenance of the dikaryotic hyphal growth in plant. Although they play an essential role in the maintenance of infection and disease in sugarcane process, knowledge about the genomic organization and function of other genes in these two loci of S. scitamineum and other smut fungi is still incipient. Thus, the overall goal of this work was to isolate genomic regions related to the mating type in S. scitamineum and to perform a comparative analyze with similar regions described and deposited in public databases. For the isolation of these regions, we constructed a genomic BAC library of a haploid strain of S. scitamineum, the Ssc39 (+), isolated from a variety of sugarcane with symptoms of high susceptibility. Eleven clones were selected by PCR. The inserts were sequenced and used to confirm the assembly of both loci in the genome sequencing of the fungus. Although S. scitamineum belongs to the class of bipolar system of sexual response as well as the fungus U. hordei , the comparative analysis of both loci indicated that S. scitamineum shows greater similarity to the S. reilianum mainly with A1 allele, which has a tetrapolar system sexual response. The annotation of the genes and characterization mating type genes enabled the comparison and better understanding of the importance of these genes in the life cycle of the fungus.

Sporisorium scitamineum é um fungo basidiomiceto causador do carvão da cana-de-açúcar, uma doença com impacto negativo no cultivo da cana-de-açúcar, e com ocorrência em todos os países produtores. A manifestação da doença na cultura da cana depende da formação de uma hifa dicariótica a partir da anastomose de duas hifas haplóides compatíveis com relação ao tipo de reação sexual (mating-type). O controle do cruzamento sexuado (mating) é realizado pela expressão de um conjunto de genes presentes em dois loci, a e b. O locus a codifica um lipopeptídeo com função de feromônio e um receptor de feromônio, responsáveis pelo reconhecimento de células compatíveis e fusão de hifas, enquanto o locus b codifica fatores de transcrição que controlam a expressão de genes responsáveis pela manutenção das hifas dicarióticas durante o processo de infecção e crescimento do fungo dentro da planta. Apesar de desempenharem função essencial no processo de infecção e manutenção da doença em cana-de-açúcar, o conhecimento a respeito da organização genômica ou da função dos demais genes presentes nos loci a e b em S. scitamineum e em outros fungos causadores de carvão é ainda incipiente. Desta forma, o objetivo geral do presente trabalho foi isolar as regiões genômicas relacionadas aos genes de cruzamento em S. scitamineum e analisar comparativamente com regiões similares já descritas e depositadas em bancos de dados públicos. Para o isolamento destas regiões, foi construída uma biblioteca genômica em BAC de uma linhagem haplóide de S. scitamineum, a Ssc39 (+), isolada de uma variedade de cana-de-açúcar com sintomas de alta susceptibilidade. Foram selecionados 11 clones por PCR. Os insertos foram sequenciados e utilizados para confirmação da montagem dos loci no sequenciamento do genoma do fungo. Apesar do fungo S. scitamineum apresentar sistema bipolar de reação sexual assim como o fungo U. hordei, as análises comparativas de ambos os locus indicaram que S. scitamineum apresenta maior similaridade com o fungo S. reilianum principalmente com o alelo a1, no qual apresenta sistema tetrapolar de reação sexual. A anotação e caracterização dos genes do tipo de reação sexual (mating type) possibilitaram a comparação e melhor entendimento sobre esses genes de grande importância na patogenicidade e no ciclo de vida do fungo. / Sporisorium scitamineum is a basidiomycete fungus causing the smut disease in sugarcane, with a negative impact on the cultivation of sugarcane, and occurring in all producing countries. The manifestation of the disease in sugarcane crop depends on the formation of a dikaryotic hyphae originated of the anastomosis of two haploid mating type compatible cells. The control of the sexual crossing (mating) is performed by expression of a set of genes present in two loci, a and b. The locus a encodes a lipopeptide with the function of pheromone and pheromone membrane receptor responsible for cell recognition and compatible hyphal fusion, whereas the locus b encodes transcription factors that control the expression of genes responsible for the maintenance of the dikaryotic hyphal growth in plant. Although they play an essential role in the maintenance of infection and disease in sugarcane process, knowledge about the genomic organization and function of other genes in these two loci of S. scitamineum and other smut fungi is still incipient. Thus, the overall goal of this work was to isolate genomic regions related to the mating type in S. scitamineum and to perform a comparative analyze with similar regions described and deposited in public databases. For the isolation of these regions, we constructed a genomic BAC library of a haploid strain of S. scitamineum, the Ssc39 (+), isolated from a variety of sugarcane with symptoms of high susceptibility. Eleven clones were selected by PCR. The inserts were sequenced and used to confirm the assembly of both loci in the genome sequencing of the fungus. Although S. scitamineum belongs to the class of bipolar system of sexual response as well as the fungus U. hordei , the comparative analysis of both loci indicated that S. scitamineum shows greater similarity to the S. reilianum mainly with A1 allele, which has a tetrapolar system sexual response. The annotation of the genes and characterization mating type genes enabled the comparison and better understanding of the importance of these genes in the life cycle of the fungus.

Bmi-1 é uma proteína do grupo Polycomb capaz de induzir atividade de telomerase, levando à imortalização de células epiteliais. As células, quando imortalizadas, se tronam mais susceptíveis a danos em dupla fita (double-strand breaks (DSB))e a recombinação homóloga é uma das duas vias de reparo dos DSBs. Dentre os genes reguladores da recombinação homóloga temos o BRCA-1, que está envolvido na resposta ao dano associado à proteína RAD51, que por sua vez se acumula rapidamente nos focos de dano ao DNA após a sinalização do H2AX, que têm se mostrado um excelente marcador de dano celular por se acumular rapidamente nos focos de lesão, desencadeando o processo de reparo. Topoisomerase III (TopoIII) remove intermediários da recombinação homóloga antes da segregação de cromossomos, prevenindo danos à estrutura do DNA celular. O papel das proteínas envolvidas na recombinação homóloga, em carcinomas ductais invasores positivos para o BMI-1, necessita ser investigado. Utilizando-se tissue microarrays contendo 239 casos de carcinomas ductais mamários primários, foi analisada a expressão imunoistoquímica de BMI-1, receptor de estrógeno, receptor de progesterona, HER-2, Ki67, p53 e BRCA-1, H2AX, RAD51 e topoisomerase III. Positividade para o Bmi-1 foi encontrada em 66 casos (27.6%). A positividade imunoistoquímica do BMI-1 relacionou-se a RE (p=0,004), RP (p<0,001), Ki-67 (p < 0,001), p53 (p=0,003), BRCA-1(p= 0,003), H2AX (p= 0,024) e TopoIII (p < 0,001). Concluindo, nossos resultados mostraram haver relação entre o BMI-1 e genes reguladores da HR, sugerindo que a positividade de BMI-1 pode ser um importante evento na recombinação homóloga em carcinomas ductais invasores da mama. / Bmi-1 is a Polycomb group protein which is able to induce telomerase activity, enabling the immortalization of epithelial cells. Immortalized cells shown more susceptible to double-strand breaks (DSB) and the homologous recombination (HR) are one of DSB repair pathways. Among the regulatory genes in HR, there is BRCA1, involved in the response to DNA damage associated with the RAD51 protein, which accumulates in DNA damage foci after signaling H2AX. H2AX has also been shown to be a good marker of DNA damage. Topoisomerase III (TopoIII) removes HR intermediates before the segregation of chromosomes, preventing damage to the structure of the cellular DNA. The role of proteins involved in HR, in breast carcinomas positive for BMI-1, remains to be investigated. The aim of this study was evaluate the association between BMI-1 and homologous recombination proteins. Using tissue microarrays containing 239 cases of primary breast tumors, the expression of Bmi-1, BRCA-1, H2AX, Rad51, p53, Ki-67, topoisomerase III, RE, RP and HER-2 was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. We observe high expression of Bmi-1 in 66 cases (27.6%). Immunohistochemistry overexpression of BMI-1 was related to RE (p=0,004), RP (p<0,001), Ki-67 (p < 0,001), p53 (p=0,003), BRCA-1(p= 0,003), H2AX (p= 0,024) and TopoIII (p < 0,001). Our results showed a relation between the expression of BMI-1 and HR regulatory genes, suggesting that overexpression of Bmi-1 is an important event in breast cancer homologous recombination.

Os micro-organismos são profícuas fontes de produtos naturais bioativos. Diversos fármacos de importância clínica são de origem microbiana, sendo que a maioria dos antibióticos usados clinicamente é produzida por actinobactérias, principalmente do gênero Streptomyces. A resistência a múltiplas drogas por microorganismos patogênicos e também pelas células tumorais leva à necessidade por novos fármacos antibacterianos e antitumorais. Actinobactérias endofíticas têm demonstrado grande potencial para a busca de produtos naturais bioativos. O presente trabalho relata o estudo químico de duas linhagens de actinobactérias endofíticas, Streptomyces sp. RTd 22 e Streptomyces sp RTd 31, isoladas das raízes de Tithonia diversifolia. As frações ativas nos ensaios biológicos foram fracionadas para a identificação dos compostos bioativos, sendo eles os antibióticos macrolídeos concanamicinas A (S31-1) e B (S31-2), anidro-agliconas das concanamicinas A (S31-3) e B (S31-4), todos produzidos por Streptomyces sp RTd31, e o ionóforo poliéter grisorixina (S22-2), produzido por Streptomyces sp. RTd22. Foi realizado o monitoramento da produção desses compostos bioativos por UPLC-MS através do modo SIM. As concanamicinas A e B tiveram um máximo de produção com 96h, já a grisorixina obteve um máximo com 192h. Outros compostos identificados por desreplicação dos extratos butanólicos de ambas as actinobactérias foram os sideróforos norcardamina (S31-7) e desoxi-nocardamina (S31-8), já o sideróforo desferrioxamina B (S31-9) foi identificado apenas nos extratos butanólicos de Streptomyces sp RTd31. Experimentos de variação do meio de cultivo e co-cultura com bactérias patogênicas foram empregados a fim de estimular a biossíntese de novos compostos, porém nenhum novo metabólito foi identificado. O sequenciamento genético da actinobactéria Streptomyces sp. RTd22 permitiu verificar a presença de vários clusters biossintéticos nesse micro-organismo através da análise feita pelo antiSMASH. Foi possível identificar o cluster da himastatina (S22-4) e da coeliquelina (S22-5), sendo que ambos os compostos não foram biossintetizados nas condições de cultivo utilizadas. O cluster biossintético da grisorixina foi determinado e o experimento de recombinação homóloga para a deleção do gene análogo a flavina mono-oxigenase da nigericina nigC foi realizado. Dois mutantes foram obtidos e um deles foi cultivado para a análise do perfil metabólico por espectrometria de massas. Não houve a produção da grisorixina nem do seu possível precursor pelo mutante, mas outros metabólitos foram produzidos / Microorganisms are prolific sources of bioactive natural products. Several clinically important drugs have microbial origin, and most of the therapeutically used antibiotics are produced by actinobacteria, mainly from the genus Streptomyces. The multidrug resistance observed in pathogenic microorganisms and tumor cells lead to the need for new antibacterial and antitumor drugs . Endophytic actinobacteria have shown great potential in the search for bioactive natural products. This work describes the chemical study of two endophytic actinobacteria strains: Streptomyces sp. RTd 22 and Streptomyces sp RTD 31, isolated from Tithonia diversifolia roots. Active fractions in biological assays were further fractionated for identifying the bioactive compounds, which are: the macrolide antibiotics concanamycins (S31-1) and B (S31-2), anhydrous aglycones of concanamycins A (S31-3) and B (S31-4), all four produced by Streptomyces sp. RTd31, and the ionophore polyether grisorixin (S22-2), produced by Streptomyces sp. RTd22. The production of these bioactive compounds was monitored by UPLC-MS via the SIM mode. Concanamycins A and B had maximum production at 96 h, and grisorixin at 192 h. Other compounds identified by the dereplication of buthanolic extracts of both actinobacteria were the siderophore norcardamine (S31-7) and deoxy-nocardamine (S31-8), the siderophores desferrioxamine B (S31-9) was identified only in buthanolic extracts of Streptomyces sp RTd31. Experiments varying media and co-culture were tested to stimulate the biosynthesis of novel compounds, but nothing new was identified. By genome sequencing of Streptomyces sp RTd22 and antiSMASH analysis it was possible to verify the presence of several biosynthetic clusters in the genome of this strain. It was possible to identify the biosynthetic clusters of himastatin (S22-4) and its analogous compound coelichelin (S22-5); however, these compounds were not biosynthesized in the culture conditions used. The grisorixin biosynthetic cluster was determined, and homologous recombination was performed for deleting the analogue gene of nigericin flavin monooxygenase nigCI. Two mutants were obtained, and one of them was cultured for analyzing its metabolic profile by mass spectrometry. There was no production of grisorixin or its possible precursor by the mutant, but others compounds were produced.

À l'heure actuelle, il y a un regain d'intérêt pour Clostridium acetobutylicum, le biocatalyseur du procédé Weizmann historique, pour produire le n-butanol un produit chimique de commodité et un bio-carburant alternatif et renouvelable . Ce mémoire de thèse décrit un procédé de recombinaison homologue, utilisant plasmide réplicatif, pour la délétion ou l'introdu ction de gènes chez C. acetobutylicum avec une élimination facile des marqueurs utilisés. La souche de C. acetobutylicum cacl502upp et ce système de recombinaison homologue ont été utilisés dans d'autres expériences d'ingénierie pour obtenir une souche produisant du n-butanol avec une sélectivité élevée et en éliminant la plupart des co-produits. Le mutant final, C. acetobutylicum (C. acetobutylicum CAB1060) a été généré avec succès. Cette souche CAB1060 a été utilisée dans un nouveau procédé de fermentation continu qui utilise i) l'extraction in situ des alcools par distillation sous pression réduite et ii) des cultures à haute densité cellulaire (et ne faisant pas intervenir de procédé membranaire) pour atteindre des titre, rendement et productivité en n-butanol qui n'ont jam ais été obtenus chez aucun micro-organisme.Un second procédé de recombinaison homologue utilisant un plasmide non réplicatif pour la modification de gène sans marqueur est également décrit dans le présent mémoire. Cette méthode permet d'inactiver simultaném ent deux gènes. Il a été utilisé avec succès pour la construction d'un mutant incapable de produire de l'hydrogène et utile, comme souche plate-forme, pour l'ingénierie de C. acetobutylicum pour produire en continu des produits chimiques de commodité et des bio­ carburants. / Current ly, there is a resurgence of interest in Clostridium acetobutylicum, the biocatalyst of the historical Weizmann process, to produce n-butanol for use both as a bulk chemical and as a renewablc alternative transportation fuel. This thesis describes a method of homologous recombination by replicative plasmid to delete or introduce genes in C. acetobutylicum . This method was successfull y used to delete genes, includin g CACJ502, CAC3535, CAC2879 (upp), to generate C. acetobutylicum. These strains are readily transformable without any previous plasmid methylation and can serve as hosts for a "marker-less" genetic exchange system. A mutant C. acetobutylicum (C. acetobuty licum CAB 1060) was successfully genera ted. This final mutant produces mainly bu tanol, with ethanol and traces of acetate at a molar rati o of 7:1 :1 . This CAB 1060 strain was subjected to a new continuous fermentation process using i) in situ extraction of alcohols by distillation under low pressure and ii) high cell density cultures to increase the titer, yield and productivity of n-butanol production to levels that have never been previously açhieved in any organism . A second homologous recombination method using non-replicative plasmid for marker less gene modification is also described in this thesis. This method allows the simultaneou s inactivation of two genes. lt has been successfully used to construct a mutant unable to produce hydrogen and useful, as a platform strain, for further engineering of C. acetobutylicum to continuously produce bulk chemicals and fuels.

Orientador: Álvaro Francisco Bosco / Banca: Valdir Gouveia Garcia / Banca: Maria José Hitomi Nagata / Banca: Márcio Zaffalon Casati / Banca: Márcio Fernando de Moraes Grisi / Resumo: O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar histológica e histometricamente o padrão de cicatrização de defeitos de deiscência periodontal tratados com enxerto de tecido conjuntivo subepitelial (ETC) ou matriz dérmica acelular (MDA), cada qual comparado ao tratamento com Retalho posicionado Coronal (RPC). Foram utilizados 10 cães, divididos em dois grupo de 5. Defeitos de deiscência óssea (6x8 mm) foram criados nos caninos superiores e os grupos divididos seguindo um modelo de boca dividida de acordo com o tratamento. Em um grupo de 5 cães foi realizado o tratamento com ETC e no lado contralateral RPC e o outro grupo de 5 cães foi tratado com MDA e RPC no lado contralateral. Após 3 meses pós-operatórios os animais foram submetidos à eutanásia e os blocos processados para análise histológica e histométrica. Os parâmetros histométricos avaliados incluíram extensão de tecido epitelial (TE), nova inserção (NITC) e aposição de tecido conjuntivo (ATC), novo cemento (NC) e novo osso (NO). Os dados histométricos transformados em porcentagem, foram estatisticamente analisados pelo teste ANOVA, seguido pelo teste de Tukey... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate histologically and histometrically the healing pattern of periodontal dehiscence defects treated with Subepithelial Connective Tissue Graft (CTG) or Acellular Dermal Matrix (ADM), when compared to the Coronally Positioned Flap (CPF). Dehiscence bone defects (6x8mm) were created bilaterally in the maxillary canine area of dogs (n=10, divided in 2 groups). By means of a split mouth test design, a group of 5 dogs was randomly allocated to receive subepithelial connective tissue graft (CTG) in one of the sides and a coronally positioned flap (CPF) in the opposing side. The remaining 5 dogs had acellular dermal matrix graft (ADM) as a treatment in either one of the sides and CPF on the other side. Three months after surgery, dogs were euthanized and blocks of interest were processed. The histometric parameters for the latter included lenght of epithelial tissue (ET), new attachment (NACT) and connective tissue aposition (CTA), new cementum (NC), and new bone (NB). Histometric data were converted to percentage and statistically analyzed by ANOVA followed by Tukey test at a p<0.05. No significant difference was detected in the following parameters for both groups: ET yielding... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor