Team:Newcastle/solution
From 2010.igem.org
|
Contents |
Overview
Bacilla Filla repairs concrete by producing a mixture of calcium carbonate, levans glue and filamentous cells in the cracks. Once we have applied Baccila Filla spores onto the concrete surface, they will start germinating in the presence of media. Once all the cells have germinated, they will start to swarm down the crack. At the bottom of the crack when they reach at a high density, they have will use subtilin quorum sensing to activate concrete repair. BacillaFilla repairs concrete by 3 different processes:
- Some of the cells with produce calcium carbonate crystals,
- Some of the cells will become filamentous thereby acting as reinforcing fibres in the crack and
- All the cells will produce Levans glue which acts as a binding agent and at the same time it fills up the whole crack.
Therefore the mixture of all the three elements together will make a strong repair.
Parts Submitted to the Registry
- CaCO3/Urease
- Filamentous cells
- End of crack & signalling system
- Swarming
- Non-target-environment kill switch
- Glue
Alkalinity resistance
Our chassis, Bacillus subtilis 168, can be acclimatised to the high pH of concrete (which can be as high as pH 10). Below on the left you can see Bacillus subtilis 168 which was grown under normal conditions (pH 7) and then transferred to pH 10. On the right is Bacillus subtilis 168 which has been acclimatised to high pH (by growing at increasing pH levels from 7 to 9) before being transferred to pH 10, and has a much higher rate of survival.
....link to the lab book experiments.
An e-Science Approach to Synthetic Biology
Initial Research
Research |
Initial Research on Filamentous cells |