Team:British Columbia/Project

A Multi-prong Approach to Eliminating Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms Using Recombinant Bacteriophages and Biofilm-Degrading Enzymes

Biofilms are ubiquitious microbial communities often with greater resistance and pathogenicity compared to individual microbes. Biofilms commonly cause complications in industrial and medical settings and represent a significant source of morbidity and mortality. A synthetic biology approach to tackling biofilms has only recently been applied to Escherichia coli biofilms. To eliminate the more clinically relevant Staphylococcus aureus biofilms, our team aims to break new ground at iGEM by using S. aureus as a model host and developing a standard for genetically engineering bacteriophages. Our design incorporates DspB, a biofilm matrix-degrading enzyme into the Փ13 phage genome, which is altered to operate under the regulation of the S. aureus agr quorum sensing pathway and thus upon contact with biofilms. As a complement, we have also developed a mathematical model that simulates the dynamics of our system under different conditions.