SDU-Denmark/13 July 2010

Phototaxis:

Progress report: We have attempted transformations with promoter, RBS and terminator for our assembly again. Apparently there might be a problem with our LA plates. This time we have used competent e. coli MG1655. We will also use this strain for testing beta-carotene and retinal bricks.

A FedEx man is on his way as with our cDNA for the retinal generator as I write this. ETA some time tomorrow!

Today I succeeded in contacting professor Spudich at the university of Texas. He is rather busy at the moment, so that is why he did not answer our mails. The good news is that he will look for the NpSopII-HtrII-Tsr fusion protein in their freezer tommorow or the day after tomorrow and if he still hast it he wills end it to us. If he does not have it anymore, he will forward the mail to the lead author of the article about the construction of this protein, who will probably still have it and then send it to us. Bottomline is: If Spudich still has the protein he will send it, if he does not have it anymore he will get the other author of the article to send it to us. So it is rather certain that we will receive this part.
--Lclund 20:34, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Working hypothesis: We are discussing whether we should keep the system in e. coli TOP 10 rather than moving to MG1655 as the biosynthesis machinery might be unnecessarily over expressing beta-carotene and retinal in amounts far beyond what our photo sensor needs to function.(although we will still do testing in both strains experimentally, in part to help further characterization of the Cambridge part)