Team:UGA-Georgia/Project

Project Description

The 2014 University of Georgia iGEM team focuses on two main goals:

First, we aim to make methanogens a more tangible host for synthetic biologists. To achieve this, we are creating a metabolic flux model for the lipid biosynthesis pathway in Methanococcus maripaludis. Our goal is to map the entire pathway, complete a genome-scale flux balance analysis, and develop strategies for overproduction of isoprenoid compounds. In addition, ribosome binding sites (RBS) are not well characterized in Archaea, so we are creating a library of RBS sequences and measuring their relative strength of fluorescence. A library of RBS will allow us the ability for variable levels of expression. Also, we are developing new methods for extracting, concentrating, measuring and quantifying organically soluble material from M. maripaludis cultures.

Second, we are demonstrating the utility of methanogens in synthetic biology by the optimized production of geraniol, an organically soluble material. Following up on the work from the 2013 iGEM season, we’ve continued targeting geraniol as a high value bio-chemical which may be produced from inexpensive substrates such as H2/CO2 or formate. Uses of Geraniol include potential biofuel, organic pesticide, tumor suppressor of breast, colon and prostate cancers, fragrances and flavorings. Last year, geraniol production in M. maripaludis was quantified as 0.2% of lipid dry weight. This year, UGA-iGEM seeks to address the overall geraniol yield through several projects which satisfy both of our main goals mentioned above.

Requirements

Please be sure to keep these links, your audience will want to find your:

• Home
• Team
• Official Team Profile
• Project
• Parts
• Modeling
• Notebook
• Safety
• Attributions

There are a few wiki requirements teams must follow:

• All pages, images and files must be hosted on the 2014.igem.org server.
• All pages must be created under the team’s name space.
• As part of your documentation, keep the links from the menu to the left.
• Do not use flash in wiki code.
• The iGEM logo should be placed on the upper part of every page and should link to 2014.igem.org.

Visit the Wiki How To page for a complete list of requirements, tips and other useful information.

Tips

We are currently working on providing teams with some easy to use design templates.
In the meantime you can also view other team wikis for inspiration! Here are some very good examples

• 2013 SDU Denmark
• 2013 SYSU China
• 2013 Shenxhen BGIG ATCG
• 2013 Colombia Unianades
• 2013 Lethbridge

For a full wiki list, you can visit iGEM 2013 web sites and iGEM 2012 web sites lists.

This wiki will be your team’s first interaction with the rest of the world, so here are a few tips to help you get started:

• State your accomplishments! Tell people what you have achieved from the start.
• Be clear about what you are doing and what you plan to do.
• You have a global audience! Consider the different backgrounds that your users come from.
• Make sure information is easy to find; nothing should be more than 3 clicks away.
• Avoid using very small fonts and low contrast colors; information should be easy to read.
• Start documenting your project as early as possible; don’t leave anything to the last minute before the Wiki Freeze. For a complete list of deadlines visit the iGEM 2013 calendar
• Have lots of fun!