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Project/PlcR-PapR Fusion Protein/
From 2010.igem.org
Contents |
PlcR-PapR Fusion Quorum Peptide
Background
As synthetic biologists, we have taken a cavalier leap and have ‘hijacked’ a system of quorum sensing from the groups of Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thruingiensis. This quorum system is comprised of the transmitter-receiver effectors: the PlcR and PapR quorum peptides and the PlcR promoter which is ‘activated’ by this protein pair [1]. Observable most clearly in Bacillus anthracis, the PlcR regulon is a sequence that controls the transcription of a host of downstream genes via the positive effects exerted by the PlcR and PapR proteins [2].
Quite simply, both PlcR and PapR are synthesized within the bacteria as propeptides, exported out of the cell via the secA pathway, cleaved by an extracellular protease and re-imported into the cell whereby they affect their transcriptional pressure on the PlcR regulon. However, as spoken by a fictitious frenzied scientist; ‘Nature finds a way’. It has been observed in Bacillus anthracis that the PlcR and PapR proteins are found in the form of a combined fusion protein the performs the same function as the individual proteins combined [2].
Based on this finding, we have designed a fusion protein that expresses both the PlcR and PapR proteins simultaneously as an amalgamated single. It has been elucidated further that the fusion protein binds to a region within the promoter known as the PlcR box. For more information on the specific interactions between the regulatory proteins and the PlcR promoter, please click on over to the PlcR_Promoter description and annotation.
Sequence Developement and Annotation
Testing and Validation
References
