Part:BBa_K847004
''Deinococcus radiodurans'' Superoxide dismutase, SodCu/Zn
Deinococcus radiodurans is an extremely radiation-resistant bacterium: while about 10 Gy (absorbed radiation dose, Gray) can kill most vertebrates, D. radiodurans can withstand up to 12,000 Gy. Current literature supports this finding with D. radiodurans’ unique genetic makeup which allows it to better handle radiation exposure. The two main effects of radiation exposure to bacterial cells are DNA damage and the creation of toxic superoxide species (Daly 2009). To take care of the pesky superoxides, superoxide dismutases are expressed in high levels in D. radiodurans (Slade and Miroslav 2011). These enzymes break the reactive species down into harmless oxygen and hydrogen peroxides. This dismutase uses copper and zinc as cofactors (Gao, Zhang, Song, Chen, and Zhong 2009).
RHIT 2019’s Characterisation
To characterize Part:BBa_K847004 based on its response to heavy metals, we introduced an experimental group to a copper salt solution and incubated them for 24 hours. After incubation, we spun the cells out of liquid culture, washed them, then replated them at dilutions. After letting them grow for 24 hours, we counted the CFUs on the plate and compared them to negative control. This simple, but effective test allowed us to see what affect the part had on the survivability of cells.
Characterization of BBa_K847004, the protocol for which can be found in the last page of the Protocol section in theRHIT|Experiment It shows that bacteria containing the SOD gene in this experiment have better survivability against the reactive oxygen species produced by copper, including a larger number of final CFUs, as well as survivability at higher concentrations of copper total.
Sequence and Features
- 10COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[10]
- 12COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[12]
- 21COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[21]
- 23COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[23]
- 25INCOMPATIBLE WITH RFC[25]Illegal NgoMIV site found at 389
Illegal NgoMIV site found at 496 - 1000COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[1000]
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