From 2010.igem.org

Introduction

Project overview of E. lemming. The core idea of E. lemming is to control chemotaxis of E. coli by means of light! We'll realize this by hijacking and perturbing the tumbling / directed movement apparatus. By coupling proteins of the chemotaxis pathway to a synthetic light-sensitive spatial localization system, their activity can be controlled reversibly.

We control the movement of a single E. coli cell by light. In wild type E. coli flagella movement is controlled by proteins of the chemotaxis pathway, so called Che proteins. In our engineered cells one of these Che proteins is fused to a synthetic light-sensitive localization system. Two external inputs - red light and far red light - induce the relocation of the fused proteins, thus reversibly changing flagella movement direction. Cells, imaged by bright field microscopy, are automatically detected and tracked while a closed loop controller guides the cell into a user defined direction by autonomously sending light inputs. This makes our engineered cell the smallest remote controllable living robot on earth.