Difference between revisions of "Team:IISc-Bangalore/Description"
Raj Magesh (Talk | contribs) |
|||
| Line 13: | Line 13: | ||
<h1>Gas vesicles</h1> | <h1>Gas vesicles</h1> | ||
| − | Gas vesicles are | + | Gas vesicles are hollow protein nanostructures produced by many aquatic micro-organisms like haloarchaea and cyanobacteria to provide buoyancy to the cells. In their natural environment, vertical stratification is a crucial aspect of survival: optimal access to sunlight for photosynthesis is |
| + | |||
| + | The structure and arrangement is highly conserved between organisms with width being almost the only widely varying parameter. They contain gases which diffuse in during formation and are kept localised by the hydrophobicity of the inner membrane. | ||
Unlike true vesicles, these are made of proteins instead of phospholipids and are hence of considerable interest. Each gas vesicle is composed of two primary protein monomers, the gas vesicle forming proteins A (GvpA) and C (GvpC). The entire structure will be discussed in the following sections. | Unlike true vesicles, these are made of proteins instead of phospholipids and are hence of considerable interest. Each gas vesicle is composed of two primary protein monomers, the gas vesicle forming proteins A (GvpA) and C (GvpC). The entire structure will be discussed in the following sections. | ||
<b>Verification of presence of Gas Vesicles</b> | <b>Verification of presence of Gas Vesicles</b> | ||
Revision as of 05:44, 25 October 2017
| Sponsors | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
|||
 |
 |
||||
| Contact | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|||
Gas vesicles
Gas vesicles are hollow protein nanostructures produced by many aquatic micro-organisms like haloarchaea and cyanobacteria to provide buoyancy to the cells. In their natural environment, vertical stratification is a crucial aspect of survival: optimal access to sunlight for photosynthesis is
The structure and arrangement is highly conserved between organisms with width being almost the only widely varying parameter. They contain gases which diffuse in during formation and are kept localised by the hydrophobicity of the inner membrane. Unlike true vesicles, these are made of proteins instead of phospholipids and are hence of considerable interest. Each gas vesicle is composed of two primary protein monomers, the gas vesicle forming proteins A (GvpA) and C (GvpC). The entire structure will be discussed in the following sections. Verification of presence of Gas Vesicles The easiest way to assay presence of gas vesicles is their disappearance under high pressure under a microscope. This was observed even during normal experiments. Fully filled micro-centrifuge tubes containing dilute gas vesicle suspensions lost their faint opalescence when the tube was closed (this did lead to a loss of samples). A more strict assay was done using DLS (See Dynamic Light Scattering) and SEM Imaging to pinpoint the exact size of the nano-particles. It was found that these gas vesicles have an effective hydrodynamic radius of around 230nm. This estimate was particularly valuable in the development of our model.
Our analysis
Improving flotation
Assays
About iFLOAT
Tell us about your project, describe what moves you and why this is something important for your team.
- A clear and concise description of your project.
- A detailed explanation of why your team chose to work on this particular project.
- References and sources to document your research.
- Use illustrations and other visual resources to explain your project.
lot of information and content on your wiki; include summaries as much as possible; consistent, accurate and unambiguous in your achievements.
point of view of the judge evaluating you at the end of the year.
record references judges can see how you thought about your project and what works inspired you.
