Team:Aix-Marseille/QS

Quorum sensing

Quorum sensing is a mechanism that allows bacteria to coordinate the regulation of their genes according to the density of the bacterial population[1]. It allows bacteria to adopt collective patterns of gene regulation to have, at a population level, an advantageous phenotype. Quorum sensing allows Xylella fastidiosa to produce a biofilm, a sticky extracellular matrix composed of DNA, proteins and polysaccharides, which is one of the key problem in the plant disease because it blocks xylem vesselsCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title. Thus, we thought about using this specific DSF to stop X. fastidiosa.

Design

T--Aix-Marseille--pQS2.png

As we wanted to limit the number of GMOs in our product we wanted to produce the 2-cis-decenoic acid in E. coli and an efficient purification system. We choose to not use P. aeruginosa because of it pathogeneicity.

Several enzymes are necessary for the production of 2-cis-decenenoic acid by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, not every of them is present in E. coli. Thus, to produce the fatty acid, we design the three enzymes lacking in E. coli for the production of 2-cis-decenenoic and we optimized their sequences for a production in this bacteria. Therefore we design : [http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K2255000 BBa_K2255000], [http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K2255001 BBa_K2255001] and [http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K2255002 BBa_K2255002]

As we wanted to optimize the production we design these parts to form a operon when assembled. Thus, [http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K2255001 BBa_K2255001] and [http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K2255002 BBa_K2255002] has a Ribosome Binding Site (RBS) integrated in the biobrick.

Finally, to produce these enzymes in huge amounts, we decided to add a strong and constitutive promoter in E.coli ([http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K608002 BBa_K608002]).

References

  1. ↑ Rutherford, S. T. & Bassler, B. L. Bacterial Quorum Sensing: Its Role in Virulence and Possibilities for Its Control. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med 2, a012427 (2012).