Team:Tec-Chihuahua
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Tec-Chihuahua
Erwinia amylovora causes fire blight disease in some of the most important crops such as apple, roses, pear and most of the members of the Rosaceae family. This crops and ornamental flowers are highly produced worldwide. In 2005, the world production of edible rosaceous fruits was about 113 million tons translating to approximately $45 billion. This iGEM edition, the team Tec-Chihuahua presents its proposal to address this environmental issue by using synthetic biology techniques to synthesize three different enzymes that might inhibit most, if not all, the virulence factors of E. amylovora. The use of N-Acyl homoserine lactonase, encoded by the aiiA gene, would directly affect the AHLs (acyl-homoserine lactones) by hydrolyzing and inhibiting the main quorum sensing molecule. Then, the Cyclic-di-GMP phosphodiesterase from the yhjH gene would linearize the c-di-GMP avoiding the formation of biofilm and encouraging the motility. For this last virulence factor, the team proposes to arrest flagellar rotation with a Putative Glycosyltransferase encoded by epsE. If the biobrick result to be functional, several applications may be viable.