Difference between revisions of "Part:BBa K1403002"
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===Usage and Biology===
 
===Usage and Biology===
 
Body odor is a complex combination of odorants, but the major components come from just a few known enzymes. In the armpit, for example, a major souce of "pungent" or "musky" odors is the enzyme AgaA expressed by <i>Corynebacterium striatum </i> (Kligman <i>et al.</i>, 1981).
 
Body odor is a complex combination of odorants, but the major components come from just a few known enzymes. In the armpit, for example, a major souce of "pungent" or "musky" odors is the enzyme AgaA expressed by <i>Corynebacterium striatum </i> (Kligman <i>et al.</i>, 1981).
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===Characterization===
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To understand the smell created by AgaA, we cloned the gene into <i>E. coli</i> (BBa_K1403002). A noticeable odor was produced by agaA-expressing <i>E. coli</i> grown in selective LB, described as "beer-like" or "cheese-like". We confirmed this observation with a formal double-blind smell test (Fig. 1). Also, we sequenced-verified the plasmid. Although the native substrate of the enzyme is not present in LB, the enzyme is known to have a low specificity for the acyl group, and to act on a range of glutamine conjugates (Natsch et al., 2003). These observations highlight the remarkable affect of single gene on the odor profile of a bacterial population.
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https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/parts/6/68/Smell_test_agaA_e_coli.png <br>
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<b>Fig 1:</b> 14 people smelled two tubes of <i>E. coli</i> grown to saturation in LB. One culture carried synthetic agaA and other an empty vector control. 13 people out of 14 rated the <i>E. coli</i> carrying agaA as more smelly (pink) than the control(violet). Experiments were double-blind. Significance was confirmed by Chi square test (p-value = 0.001341).
  
 
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Revision as of 15:29, 28 October 2014

AgaA expression (3M2H-> 3H3MH)

AgaA is an enzyme present in Corynebacterium striatum that is the main responsible for body odor. It is an aminocylase that hydrolyzes 3-methyl-2-hexenoyl-glutamine (3M2H-gln) into 3-methyl-2-hexenoic acid (3M2H) and free glutamine. The substrate is secreted in sweat, and the product is a distinctive armpit odor.


Sequence and Features


Assembly Compatibility:
  • 10
    COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[10]
  • 12
    COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[12]
  • 21
    INCOMPATIBLE WITH RFC[21]
    Illegal BamHI site found at 288
    Illegal BamHI site found at 519
  • 23
    COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[23]
  • 25
    INCOMPATIBLE WITH RFC[25]
    Illegal AgeI site found at 181
  • 1000
    COMPATIBLE WITH RFC[1000]