Team:IISER-Mohali-INDIA/Plant

gEco
Plant Synthetic Biology






In an attempt to make our paper based device a perpetual sink for toxic gases and harmful chemicals, we decided to co-culture our genetically engineered E.coli with a naturally available species of algae like Heterosigma akashiwo, Chlorella vutgaris, or the microalgae (Chaetoceros gracilis) which would utilize the gases and chemicals captured as a nutrient for its own metabolic pathways. As an example, we can use specific algae species for various harmful pollutants like:

CO → Chlorella vutgaris [1] NO, CO2 → Dunaliella tertiolecta [2]

Chemical Organism
Acetaldehyde
Nitric Oxide species of algae -Dunaliella tertiolecta
Mercury
Xylene Pandoraea sp. strain WL1
Arsenic Halomonadaceaebacterium GFAJ-1
Lead algae -Chlorella vutgaris, Spirogyra
Carbon monoxide
Uranium algae -Cladophora hutchinsiae
Chromium algae -Oedogonium hatei
Copper algae - Gelidium
Zinc algae -Gelidium

We are attempting to create a symbiotic system by carefully choosing the species of algae, which would provide a natural way to dispose the harmful gases that are captured from the environment. Furthermore, co-culturing the E.coli with algal colonies increases the lifetime of the E.coli several fold by consuming the toxic gases. Furthermore, it will increase the applicability of our project as a viable device for the detection, capture and consumption of noxious gases and harmful chemicals.

References:

1. Chappelle, E. W. (1962). Carbon monoxide oxidation by algae. Biochimica et biophysica acta, 62(1), 45-62.

2. Yoshihara, K. I., Nagase, H., Eguchi, K., Hirata, K., & Miyamoto, K. (1996). Biological elimination of nitric oxide and carbon dioxide from flue gas by marine microalga NOA-113 cultivated in a long tubular photobioreactor. Journal of fermentation and bioengineering, 82(4), 351-354.