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Team:Bielefeld-CeBiTec
From 2014.igem.org
Welcome to our project
The supply with electricity is facing three major problems: the storage of electricity, the increasing amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide and the development of alternative energy sources. Therefore we want to implement a proof of concept for the production of the biofuel isobutanol from carbon dioxide. A bacterial microcompartment originated from cyanobacteria, called carboxysome, is used to realize the fixation of carbon dioxide in Escherichia coli. Within this microcompartment the carbon dioxide fixation is enabled under aerobic conditions. The needed energy for this process is provided by electricity. The electrons are transferred with a mediator into the cells and its uptake is empowered by different modifications of E. coli, like over-expression of the fumarate reductase. This concept is realized in a self-constructed bioreactor. Finally the production of isobutanol is established by hetereologous expression of various enzymes from different species.
