Fig. 5

Transformation efficiency of a methylated plasmid harboring anti-psy synthetic sRNA gene. a An anti-psy synthetic sRNA gene was designed to reduce the expression of the psy gene. The synthetic sRNA binds to the coding region of the psy gene and represses the translation of the psy mRNA. The binding energy was calculated by mfold [38]. b Transformation efficiencies of the non-methylated plasmid (light gray bar) and methylated plasmid (dark gray bar) in Methylomonas sp. DH-1. Standard deviations were calculated from triplicates. The asterisk (*) denotes p values < 0.05. c Carotenoid intensity (arbitrary unit) in Methylomonas sp. DH-1 cells. The intensity was measured using multi-detection microplate reader, and the carotenoid intensity was obtained 8 h after cultivation. Standard deviations were calculated from triplicates. The asterisk (*) denotes p values < 0.05