Team:CIEI-China/Description
Description
Background
A great number of schools and restaurants produce much kitchen waste every day, which varies in composition so that it is difficult to categorize or disposal this waste.Since this waste consist of fat and other organic compound, the bacteria would grow inside the waste. Then the bacteria would decompose the waste to produce not only methane and other combustible gases but also ammonia and other pungent gases, which are harmful for the quality of water.
What is the problem?
Many factories use fermentation cylinders containing yeast to decompose the waste, converting the waste into methane, the main composition of gas, and other useful gases. But the kitchen waste is different from other common waste in our life, its salinity is high, increasing the osmotic pressure of yeast and causing the rupture of yeast.
How to solve and what can we do?
CIEI-China, a high school team of iGEM, uses bioengineering approach to transfer salt-tolerant genes into yeast so that yeast could drcompose the kitchen waste properly. Our team desires to create a cell factory for waste decomposition, find innovative way for industrial kitchen waste fermentation, use scientific research to protect our environment. Our research would compare different salt-tolerant mechanism to find the most effective way. Our research includes two salt-tolerant mechanism: synthesizing glutamic acid and synthesizing trehalose.
References
Effect of deletion of genes in glutamate biosynthesis pathway on L-tryptophan fermentation by Escherichia coli
The changes in Tps1 activity, trehalose content and expression of TPS1 gene in the psychrotolerant yeast Guehomyces pullulans 17-1 grown at different temperatures
Construction of fused osmoregulation proBA gene from a salt-tolerant mutant of Bacillus subtilis and its influence on the osmotolerance of Escherichia coli
Influence of Yeast on anaerobic fermentation of kitchen waste for producing acetic acid
Biogas production from anaerobic digestion of food waste
