Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
font-size: 2.6vh; | font-size: 2.6vh; | ||
width: 65%; | width: 65%; | ||
− | color: | + | color: #; |
line-height:140%; | line-height:140%; | ||
} | } | ||
Line 47: | Line 47: | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
<body class="savemike"> | <body class="savemike"> | ||
− | <p> | + | <p class="savemike"> |
Every year, Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), the most common form of traveler’s diarrhea, affects thousands of deployed warfighters. The goal is to engineer non-pathogenic <i>E. coli</i> to sense ETEC, respond to its presence, and package it in a cellulose matrix to enable environmental detection of ETEC. We created two plasmids: ‘sense-respond’; and ‘packaging’. The sense-respond plasmid sensed Auto-Inducer 2 (AI-2), a quorum sensing molecule created by most ETEC strains, by expressing LsrR which switches on the Lsr promoter. Activation of the Lsr promoter expresses Super-Folder Green Fluorescent Protein (sfGFP), indicating the presence of ETEC. The packaging plasmid expresses a fusion protein consisting of curli fibers and cellulose binding domains. These modified surface proteins permit the bacteria to bind to cellulose, encapsulating the sense-response module. We envision this genetically engineered machine to be deployed in both the internal and external environment to detect ETEC. | Every year, Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), the most common form of traveler’s diarrhea, affects thousands of deployed warfighters. The goal is to engineer non-pathogenic <i>E. coli</i> to sense ETEC, respond to its presence, and package it in a cellulose matrix to enable environmental detection of ETEC. We created two plasmids: ‘sense-respond’; and ‘packaging’. The sense-respond plasmid sensed Auto-Inducer 2 (AI-2), a quorum sensing molecule created by most ETEC strains, by expressing LsrR which switches on the Lsr promoter. Activation of the Lsr promoter expresses Super-Folder Green Fluorescent Protein (sfGFP), indicating the presence of ETEC. The packaging plasmid expresses a fusion protein consisting of curli fibers and cellulose binding domains. These modified surface proteins permit the bacteria to bind to cellulose, encapsulating the sense-response module. We envision this genetically engineered machine to be deployed in both the internal and external environment to detect ETEC. | ||
</p></body> | </p></body> |
Revision as of 19:58, 1 November 2017