The perpose of the targeting system is to ensure that our Bactissile will be as close to the pathogen as possible upon producing the killing bacteriocin. We chose to achieve this by controlling the Bactissiles chemotaxis through the protein CheZ. The targeting module is connected to the sensing module, which induces a lower production of CheZ when the Bactissile is closer to the pathogen, causing the Bactissile to stop. This way, we hoped to be able to control chemotaxis.
After successfully assembling a promoter, an rbs and cheZ, we did manage to restore chemotaxis in one test by inserting this construct in a cheZ knock-out. However, since this only happened in one isolated instance, this is not evidence enough to prove the success of our construct, however it does indicate that through more rigorous and consisted testing more reliable results could be obtained. We therefore consider to have proved that our system could work, although at this moment we don’t have any definitive proof.

The goal of this years project is to kill the gut pathogen Yersinina enterocolitica. this will be done by using the bacteriocin colicin FY. The plan was to fuse the bacteriocin with an export-tag but due to failures in assembling in the end we had to do our characterization by lysating our cells and take the bacteriocine from that supernatant. Doing this we were able to make a SDS-page and show the bacteriocins existance and further on adding the lysate to living yersinia culures. Seen in the picture are 2 plates of Y.enterocolitacas, the left one grown in a liquid culture with bacteriocine added while the other one is a negative control. There is a clear diference in the amount of yersinias so we can then show that the colicin is a succsess.