Difference between revisions of "Part:BBa K1554004"

Revision as of 22:37, 16 October 2014

Yellow biosafety module for plants

This biosafety device for plants consists in two submodules: a male sterility submodule and an identity preservation submodule. The male sterility submodule consist in a barnase specifically expressed in anthers under the regulation of the TA29 tapetum-specific promoter. As result, pollen from these plants is not fertile. The identity preservation submodule expresses the yellow chromoprotein AmilGFP, so that plants can be visually differentiated from non-transgenic plants.

Usage and Biology

Our team developed a biosafety module which will be available for teams working with plants in future iGEM editions. The aim of the biosafety module is to avoid the dispersion of the plant’s genetic material in the environment. Two strategies were combined into the same module to make our plant safe: identity preservation and male sterility.

Identity preservation enables an easy identification of the genetically modified organism. A chromoprotein, which provides a differential pigmentation to the plant, is incorporated in the module. Male sterility makes impossible the dispersion of genetic material using pollen as the vehicle. In order to achieve this dispersion restriction, the gene coding for barnase (a ribonuclease from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens) under the regulation of the tapetum-specific promoter TA29 is incorporated in our system. Both components are very well documented since TA29 has been widely used and barnase has also been used under the regulation of different promoters.

Sequence and Features