Constructing an Ethanol Sensor

Presenter Information

Cory Cheatham

Department

Biological Sciences

Major

Biological Sciences and Chemistry

Research Advisor

Shannon, Katie
Westenberg, David J.

Advisor's Department

Biological Sciences

Funding Source

Missouri S&T Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experiences (OURE) Program; Biological Sciences Department; Chemical Engineering Department

Abstract

In Pichia pastoris, alcohol oxidase (AOX) is the first enzyme in the methanol utilization pathway. This enzyme is encoded by the AOXI gene. If exposed to an environment containing both methanol and ethanol, P. pastoris preferentially metabolizes ethanol. The production of the AOX enzyme is subject to the concentration of ethanol. This diauxic metabolism may be utilized as an ethanol sensor. When the AOXI promoter is fused with a gene encoding a fluorescent protein, the activation of the AOXI promoter may be detected by direct observation of fluorescence. Our project is the development of a device containing the AOXI promoter fused with a fluorescent protein gene to create an inexpensive ethanol sensor for a variety of applications. The concentration of ethanol in the environment may be deduced from the time period between exposure of the microorganism carrying the device to ethanol and methanol, until the detection of fluorescence.

Biography

Cory Cheatham is a senior majoring in Biological Sciences and Chemistry. His current goal is to attend medical school in hopes of becoming a doctor one day.

Research Category

Sciences

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Document Type

Poster

Location

Upper Atrium/Hallway

Presentation Date

08 Apr 2009, 9:00 am - 11:45 am

Comments

Joint project with Rachel Klapper and Brian Pink

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Apr 8th, 9:00 AM Apr 8th, 11:45 AM

Constructing an Ethanol Sensor

Upper Atrium/Hallway

In Pichia pastoris, alcohol oxidase (AOX) is the first enzyme in the methanol utilization pathway. This enzyme is encoded by the AOXI gene. If exposed to an environment containing both methanol and ethanol, P. pastoris preferentially metabolizes ethanol. The production of the AOX enzyme is subject to the concentration of ethanol. This diauxic metabolism may be utilized as an ethanol sensor. When the AOXI promoter is fused with a gene encoding a fluorescent protein, the activation of the AOXI promoter may be detected by direct observation of fluorescence. Our project is the development of a device containing the AOXI promoter fused with a fluorescent protein gene to create an inexpensive ethanol sensor for a variety of applications. The concentration of ethanol in the environment may be deduced from the time period between exposure of the microorganism carrying the device to ethanol and methanol, until the detection of fluorescence.