Isolation and implementation of the electron shuttling pathway from Geobacter into Escherichia coli
Department
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Major
Chemical Engineering
Research Advisor
Westenberg, David J.
Advisor's Department
Biological Sciences
Funding Source
Missouri S&T Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experiences (OURE) Program; Missouri S&T Department of Biological Sciences; Missouri S&T Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Energy Research and Development Center; Materials Research Center
Abstract
The growing need for alternative fuel sources has sparked interest and research across many scientific and engineering disciplines. The fledgling field of microbial fuel cell development has previously relied on anaerobic metal reducing organisms such as Geobacter sulfurreduccens. This project sought to isolate the electron shuttling pathway in Geobacter and transform them into the more manageable aerobic Escherichia coli. The Missouri University of Science and Technology iGEM team isolated four outer membrane cytochrome (omc) genes from Geobacter, vital to the extracellular transportation of electrons. The four genes; B, E, S and T, were cloned into individual plasmids. The eventual goal is to combine all four genes into one plasmid to transform into E. coli to create an aerobic, electron transporting microbial system.
Biography
Meghan Ray is a junior in Biochemical Engineering from Havana, Illinois. She is a student leader in many organizations including W. T. Schrenk Society, Alpha Chi Sigma, and iGEM. She is also an active member of Kappa Delta Sorority.
Research Category
Sciences
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Document Type
Poster
Award
Sciences poster session, Second place
Location
Upper Atrium/Hallway
Presentation Date
07 Apr 2010, 9:00 am - 11:45 am
Isolation and implementation of the electron shuttling pathway from Geobacter into Escherichia coli
Upper Atrium/Hallway
The growing need for alternative fuel sources has sparked interest and research across many scientific and engineering disciplines. The fledgling field of microbial fuel cell development has previously relied on anaerobic metal reducing organisms such as Geobacter sulfurreduccens. This project sought to isolate the electron shuttling pathway in Geobacter and transform them into the more manageable aerobic Escherichia coli. The Missouri University of Science and Technology iGEM team isolated four outer membrane cytochrome (omc) genes from Geobacter, vital to the extracellular transportation of electrons. The four genes; B, E, S and T, were cloned into individual plasmids. The eventual goal is to combine all four genes into one plasmid to transform into E. coli to create an aerobic, electron transporting microbial system.
Comments
Joint Project with Nichole Hurd and Daniel Roush