Team:UIUC Illinois/Project/Overview

From 2014.igem.org

Main Project

Theobromine is a 3,7- dimethylxanthine which has a bitter taste and is naturally present in many substances as well as a metabolite of many chemical cascades. Theo being the greek root for “god” and broma meaning “food” combined form Theobroma, the genus of the cacao tree which is used in chocolate formation. Despite its abundant and delicious presence in chocolates and tea leaves, Theobromine poses a great risk to animals who are not made to digest it. Dogs who are exposed to chocolate and subsequently theobromine exhibit high blood pressure, can begin to seize and as many veterinary clinics have reported, result in death. To combat this issue, the UIUC iGEM team is focused on creating a probiotic that when administered, can combat the ill effects of theobromine on livestock and domesticated animals. We explore the potential benefits of the ever increasing manufacture of probiotics as well as colonization of digestive tracks to supress negative chemical effects.

In our venture to degrade theobromine, we utilized cascades that broke down not only theobromine, but its precursor caffeine. Caffeine and theobromine are both nervous stimulants and vasodilators which can be beneficial or malignant depending on context. Examining the scope of coffee production, we discovered that despite being a rich source of nitrogen and carbon, coffee waste is not as widely used as biomass for fertilizers due to its caffeine content. We aimed to provide a way to remediate coffee waste to make it a viable feed source.