Assessing the prediction fidelity of ancestral reconstruction by a library approach.

Ancestral reconstruction is a powerful tool for studying protein evolution as well as for protein design and engineering. However, in many positions alternative predictions with relatively high marginal probabilities exist, and thus the prediction comprises an ensemble of near-ancestor sequences that relate to the historical ancestor. The ancestral phenotype should therefore be explored for the entire ensemble, rather than for the sequence comprising the most probable amino acid at all positions [the most probable ancestor (mpa)].

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: a protein expression system for pharmaceutical and biotechnological proteins.

Recombinant proteins have become more and more important for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry. Although various systems for protein expression have been developed, there is an increasing demand for inexpensive methods of large-scale production. Eukaryotic algae could serve as a novel option for the manufacturing of recombinant proteins, as they can be cultivated in a cheap and easy manner and grown to high cell densities.