Difference between revisions of "Part:BBa K1597002"

Revision as of 17:24, 16 September 2015

tasA, amyloid-like fibers

tasA is resposible for the amyloid-like fibers that are one of the main constituents of the extracellular matrix of Bacillus subtilis biofilms. After the expression of the tapA-sipW-tasA operon, TasA amyloid-like fibres are synthesised. These fibers attach to the cell wall. Together with extracellular polysaccharides, TasA amyloid-like fibers promote formation of cell clusters, where these amyloid-like fibers resemble bundles of cell chains. This effect results in a more robust biofilm.

tasA is responsible for amyloid-like fibers that are one of the main constituents of the extracellular matrix of B. subtilis biofilms. In our construct we added the salt inducible promoter before tasA before integration in B. subtilis. With this construct we want to induce the production of tasA with different concentration salt.

Both B. subtilis ComI strain with tasA overexpression (TASA) and B. subtilis ComI (COMI)were grown on Msgg media with or without salt. After 24 and 48 hours thioflavin S (which is an amyloid fiber staining) was added to the biofilms. After 15 min incubation at room temperature the biofilms were photographed with white light and fluorescence.

With the induction of salt, TASA shows more amyloid fibers are present after 24 hours.This is not the case for COMI. After 48 hours the differences are less visible, which could be explained that tasA is a natural gene in bacillus which is expressed in a later phase of biofilm production. The natural gene is not yet fully activated after 24 hours, where it is with salt induction in the TASA. This means that the salt promoter is activated with salt and produces extra tasA.

Sequence and Features