Sequence and functional differences in the ATPase domains of CHD3 and SNF2H promise potential for selective regulability and drugability.

Chromatin remodelers use the energy of ATP hydrolysis to regulate chromatin dynamics. Their impact for development and disease requires strict enzymatic control. Here, we address the differential regulability of the ATPase domain of hSNF2H and hCHD3, exhibiting similar substrate affinities and enzymatic activities.

Gaussia-luciferase as a sensitive reporter gene for monitoring promoter activity in the nucleus of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

For the model organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a codon-adapted gene variant of the extracellular luciferase of Gaussia princeps was generated as a sensitive molecular tool to study gene expression from the nuclear genome. In the past, monitoring promoter activity in Chlamydomonas employing the commonly used luciferase encoded by Renilla reniformis was hampered due to the detection limit of the reporter assay, especially if analyzing weak promoters. In this work, the expression of Gaussia-luciferase from such promoters resulted in an average luminescent activity at least 500 times higher than that detected for the Renilla enzyme.