Team:Toulouse/Project/Chemotaxis
From 2014.igem.org
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- | <p class=" | + | <p class="title2">What is chemotaxis?</p> |
<p class="texte"> | <p class="texte"> | ||
- | + | Chemotaxis is a bacterial function which allows bacteria to move according a concentration gradient. With this system bacteria can find better place to grow by swimming toward higher concentrations of molecules, such as nutritional molecules like sugar, amino acid, vitamins... | |
</br> | </br> | ||
- | + | In our case, chemotaxis is used as a way to detect and approach fungus. Indeed during its growth, fungi release N-acetylglucosamine, a monomer of chitin which is specific to fungal presence. Thus, there is a gradient of N- acetylglucosamine around fungi.</p> | |
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- | In our case chemotaxis is used as a way to detect and approach fungus. Indeed during its growth, fungi release N-acetylglucosamine, | + | |
<center><img style="width:420px; " src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/parts/e/e9/Recap_chemotax.jpg"></center> | <center><img style="width:420px; " src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/parts/e/e9/Recap_chemotax.jpg"></center> | ||
<p class="texte"> | <p class="texte"> | ||
- | Unfortunately | + | Unfortunately <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> is not able to detect such gradient, but <i>Bacillus</i> is able to detect and to move towards sugar like glucose thanks a glucose specific receptor, VcpA. But other bacteria can detect these kind of molecule, for example <i>Vibrio cholerae</i>, which has a specific receptor for N- acetylglucosamine, VCD.</p> |
<center><img SRC="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/c/cf/Schema_chemotaxis.png" alt="schema"></center> | <center><img SRC="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/c/cf/Schema_chemotaxis.png" alt="schema"></center> | ||
<p class="texte"> | <p class="texte"> | ||
- | Therefore, | + | Therefore, our idea is pretty simple, we switch glucose specificity by N-acetylglucosamine specificity. So we need to modify the extracellular part of VcpA, the part which is responsible of the specificity, by the extracellular part of a N-acetylglucosamine receptor, VCD.</p> |
<center><img SRC="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/c/cf/Gene_chemotaxis.png" alt="gene construct"></center> | <center><img SRC="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/c/cf/Gene_chemotaxis.png" alt="gene construct"></center> |
Revision as of 18:28, 13 October 2014
Chemotaxis
To target the pathogenic fungus
Project > Chemotaxis
What is chemotaxis?
Chemotaxis is a bacterial function which allows bacteria to move according a concentration gradient. With this system bacteria can find better place to grow by swimming toward higher concentrations of molecules, such as nutritional molecules like sugar, amino acid, vitamins... In our case, chemotaxis is used as a way to detect and approach fungus. Indeed during its growth, fungi release N-acetylglucosamine, a monomer of chitin which is specific to fungal presence. Thus, there is a gradient of N- acetylglucosamine around fungi.
Unfortunately Bacillus subtilis is not able to detect such gradient, but Bacillus is able to detect and to move towards sugar like glucose thanks a glucose specific receptor, VcpA. But other bacteria can detect these kind of molecule, for example Vibrio cholerae, which has a specific receptor for N- acetylglucosamine, VCD.
Therefore, our idea is pretty simple, we switch glucose specificity by N-acetylglucosamine specificity. So we need to modify the extracellular part of VcpA, the part which is responsible of the specificity, by the extracellular part of a N-acetylglucosamine receptor, VCD.