Improvement
Before our marine Shewanella baltica TtrSR(BBa_K2507013, BBa_K2507014, BBa_K2507015, BBa_K2507016, BBa_K2507017) system, the only known genetically encoded tetrathionate sensor is the Salmonella typhimurium TtrSR two-component system (TCS) (Hensel et al, 1999; Price-Carter et al, 2001). However, in 2001, Price-Carter and his colleague found S.typhimurium’s promoter PttrB is repressed by oxygen and nitrate via the global regulator Nitrate Reductase Regulator (FNR). While the oxygen levels in the intestinal are poorly understood by human beings Kristina et al think the oxygen level maybe relatively high near the epithelial mucosal boundary because of near to the blood. Meanwhile, nitrate levels in intestinal have been shown to be improved during inflammation (Winter et al, 2013). In iGEM 2012, Dundee used Salmonella TtrSR system (http://parts.igem.org/Part:BBa_K895007) and the system works well.
The sensor we use S.baltica TtrSR which is only weakly repressed by oxygen and not repressed by nitrate in E. coli. And our S.baltica TtrSR system can work well using protoviolaceinic acid as the reporter, which display dark-green color. And our system could also work poorly using sfGFP as the reporter.
Figure1. Schematic diagram of ligand-induced signaling through TtrS/R and plasmid-borne implementation of the sensor components. We combine BBa_ K2507006 with BBa_K2507017.
Figure2. Overnight cultures of E. coli Top10 overexpressing vioABDE, producing protoviolaceinic acid in different tetrathionate concentration.
