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To be able to degrade as many aromatic components as possible, our approach is to converge catabolic pathways and employ gene augmentation. This approach is possible because there are some intermediates that are common between pathways. To that end, we have cloned the genes upstream of the common intermediates of the phenanthrene and fluorene pathways and introduced them into a bacteria that would already have the ability to metabolize the downstream intermediates. In other words, the host strain already has a piece of the pathway, and by a process of engineering, we are augmenting its gene pool and thus its capacity of degradation. The advantage is that the product is universal meaning that it can degrade many chemical species of PAHs. | To be able to degrade as many aromatic components as possible, our approach is to converge catabolic pathways and employ gene augmentation. This approach is possible because there are some intermediates that are common between pathways. To that end, we have cloned the genes upstream of the common intermediates of the phenanthrene and fluorene pathways and introduced them into a bacteria that would already have the ability to metabolize the downstream intermediates. In other words, the host strain already has a piece of the pathway, and by a process of engineering, we are augmenting its gene pool and thus its capacity of degradation. The advantage is that the product is universal meaning that it can degrade many chemical species of PAHs. | ||
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− | We have conducted a series of degradation experiments to measure the efficacy of the newly engineered strains containing optimized synthetic phenanthrene and fluorene degradation pathway, demonstrating the bacteria's ability to harness the PAHs as a carbon source and ultimately degrading the compounds. These bacteria can be incorporated in oil spill remediation and bioreactor use as commercial product, achieving detoxification through combinatorial genetic bioremediation. | + | </h6><h6 style="text-align:center">We have conducted a series of degradation experiments to measure the efficacy of the newly engineered strains containing optimized synthetic phenanthrene and fluorene degradation pathway, demonstrating the bacteria's ability to harness the PAHs as a carbon source and ultimately degrading the compounds. These bacteria can be incorporated in oil spill remediation and bioreactor use as commercial product, achieving detoxification through combinatorial genetic bioremediation. |
<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/3/38/Sponge_blueprint.png" width="60%"> | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/3/38/Sponge_blueprint.png" width="60%"> |
Revision as of 01:50, 2 November 2017