To be able to test the membrane BACTH (mBACTH), OmpX proteins have been muted to be able to integrate an unnatural amino acid in one of their extracellular loops by implementing the amber stop codon TAG. A specific tRNA can then add this azide-functionalized amino acid in the protein, which is able to fix a DIBO group - these modified proteins are called COMPs.
COMPs are fused with T18 or T25 subparts and have to be expressed at the external membrane of the bacteria. To ensure this, microscopy observations have been done with a DIBO group coupled with a fluorescent molecule : FITC.
Results of the COMP, COMP-T18 and COMP-T25 proteins marked show a great protein expression on the external membrane. (Link vers les résultats).

The bioluminescence intensity produced by the NanoLuciferase enzyme is analyzed.
Several conditions are tested with 100µL, 25µL, 5µL and 1µL of bacteria at OD600nm = 0.6 : respectively 48E+06 CFU, 12E+06 CFU, 24E+05 CFU and 48E+04 CFU .
In addition, times of induction are tested from 0 to 360 minutes with 30 minutes increments.
Cultures of the different recombinant bacteria are incubated overnight at 18°C under shaking in order to induce an optimal COMPs proteins production [http://2015.igem.org/Team:TU_Eindhoven cf Team Eindhoven 2015].
The low temperature allows a native protein folding and membrane insertion to avoids as much as possible the formation of inclusion bodies.

Then cultures are diluted at OD600nm = 0,4 and let to grow to OD 600nm = 0.6 before induction.
The induction is performed by addition of 0,5 mM IPTG and 2mM of ATP for different periods of time. Bacteria are incubated at 37°C under shaking (180 rpm) to allow an optimal NanoLuciferase production.

After induction, 1, 5, 25 or 100µL of bacteria are distributed in a 96 wells black NUNC plate (ThermoFisher) the Nano-Glo® Luciferase Assay assay from Promega® is performed (More informations) :
“Prepare the desired amount of reconstituted Nano-Glo® Luciferase Assay Reagent by combining one volume of Nano-Glo® Luciferase Assay Substrate with 50 volumes of Nano-Glo® Luciferase Assay Buffer.
For example, if the experiment requires 10 mL of reagent, add 200μl of substrate to 10 mL of buffer.” The bioluminescence is then observed with a luminometer by measuring Relative Luminescence Units (RLU).

Several measures are made in the same well in order to reduce the incertitudes induced by the luminometer.
In order to test the reproducibility of our measures the means of 3 differents experiments with 3 measurements per well are measured with the calculation of standard deviation for each.

Several controls are performed:
∅ IPTG, ∅ ATP : To check the promoter leakage without any induction.
∅ IPTG, 2 mM ATP :To check if the addition of extracellular ATP helps the production of cAMP and to check if addition of ATP modifies the promoter leakage.
0,5 mM IPTG, ∅ ATP : To check if adding extracellular ATP is needed for protein expression.
0,5 mM IPTG, 2 ATP : Is the normal condition, it correspond to the measure at 360min.

Results

The mBACTH following results are obtained with 5µL of bacteria at OD600nm = 0.6 : 24E+05 CFU.
With 1µL (48E+04 CFU), the bioluminescence intensity was too low and the measurement were not discriminant enough.
Above 25µL of bacteria (12E+06 CFU), the signal was quickly saturated when the induction time increased and the luminometer could not give workable measures.
5µL (24E+05 CFU) is a good compromise, it’s enough to have a discriminant signal and sensitive enough to work as a small drop in our NeuroDrop system.
iGEM Grenoble-Alpes device NeuroDrop is designed for the use of small volumes like drops. Proving that 5µL of bacteria are enough to detect a significant difference in bioluminescence intensity between negative and positive condition is an encouraging result. Other reagents (see the full system) will be added to the drop of bacteria and its volume should not exceed 20µL for the engineers machine to work. 5µL of bacteria seem to be appropriate.


Means of measurements obtained through 3 differents experiments with 3 measurements per well for each condition of the mBACTH generated with either
BBa_K3128018 and BBa_K3128017 : free sub-parts : negative condition,
or BBa_K3128026 and BBa_K3128027 : Leucine Zipper : positive condition.
Blank was done with 24E+05 CFU of untransformed BTH101 (RLU = 300) and subtracted from the measurements.

With 1,48E+06 RLU of bioluminesce produced in the 0,5 mM IPTG condition compared to 9,02E+05 in the condition without IPTG and without ATP, it seems that IPTG increase slightly the transcription.
Additionally, with 2,55E+0,6 RLU of bioluminescence produced in the without ATP and 2mM ATP condition compared to 9,02E+05 in the without ATP and IPTG condition, it seems that ATP have a significant* effect on transcription.
This was expected because of the lack of ATP in the periplasm of the bacteria. Thereby, adding a great amount of ATP in the medium able to diffuse in the periplasm help the cAMP production by the periplasmic adenylate cyclase.
Obviously, those observations don’t prove anything but give clues on the way the system operates.
* A T test was done for the values of time above 90 min and led to a p-value below 0.01.


Means of measurements obtained through 3 differents experiments with 3 measurements per well for each condition of the mBACTH generated with either
BBa_K3128018 and BBa_K3128017 : free sub-parts : negative condition,
or BBa_K3128026 and BBa_K3128027 : Leucine Zipper : positive condition.
Blank was done with 24E+05 CFU of untransformed BTH101 (RLU = 300) and subtracted from the measurements.
* A T test was done for the values of time above 210 min and led to a p-value below 0.05.

From 0 to 120 minutes of induction time, the bioluminescence produced by the two strains is similar.
At 120 minutes, the two curves start to split and give rise to a significant difference between the free sub-parts : negative condition and the Leucine Zipper: positive condition from around 210 minutes.

The discrepancy keeps increasing upon induction time, thus highlighting the efficiency of the amplification signal thanks to the signalling cascade and the strong reporter gene.

From 0 to 120 minutes of induction time, the bioluminescence produced by the two strains is similar.
At 120 minutes, the two curves start to split and give rise to a significant difference between the free sub-parts (negative condition) and the Leucine Zipper (positive condition) from around 210 minutes.

The discrepancy keeps increasing upon induction time, thus highlighting the efficiency of the amplification signal thanks to the signalling cascade and the strong reporter gene.

Conclusion

There is a significant difference between the negative and the positive condition of the mBACTH assay,
suggesting that a Bacterial Adenylate Cyclase Two-Hybrid can be successfully performed in the periplasm of bacteria which property is required for the sensing and detection of extracellular molecules.

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