Revision as of 18:04, 17 October 2018

Nitrate reporter: PyeaR - GFP composite

Nitrate and Nitrite sensitive promoter PyeaR with a GFP coding device and strong RBS to create a nitrate-sensitive system which signals through expression of GFP.

PyeaR is normally repressed by NsrR, a protein native to most 'E. coli' cells. When Nitrate or Nitrite enter the cell it is converted to Nitric Oxide. This binds to NsrR, halting the repression and allowing the production of GFP.

Optimum use appears to be when sensing nitrate within a range of 0 - 20 mM (Calculated from Miller assays)

Activity between 0 - 10mM was investigated using an assay measuring change in GFP expression with increasing levels of Potassium Nitrate, the results of which can be seen below.

Additional characterization. Strain was NEB Turbo.

HFLS_H2Z_hangzhou 2017

Improve the Characterization of BBa_K381001

Team HFLS_H2Z_hanzhou's experience with this part. In our experience with this part, we found out that Pyear will yield strong transcription rate under the presence of high concentration of Nitrate. However, we found out, under high concentration of nitrite(40mM), the promoter will be repressed, unlike nitrite in low concentration. Furthermore, if nitrate(40mM) is present along with nitrite(40mM), the promoter will be inhibited.

NCKU_Tainan 2017

Improve the Characterization of BBa_K381001

BBa_K381001 was first designed by Katharine Coyte from team BCCS-Bristol in iGEM 2010. It is a nitrate reporter, PyeaR-GFP composite. The team BCCS-Bristol only test the BioBrick’s sensitivity at a higher concentration, but the nitrate level of aquatic water usually won’t reach up to 1 mM. Therefore, we carry out experiment by testing the fluorescence intensity with ppm scale of Potassium Nitrate, which is much more lower than all the teams before. The results are shown below.

It shows that the BioBrick BBa_K381001 have nice sensitivity not only in high nitrate concentration, but low concentration as well. Many teams had done improvements of K381001, but our team bring out the most beautiful data. And we also take X axis logarithm, which can make our data linear. Not only easier to read, but also more meaningful. The data is shown as below.

Improve the Function of BBa_K381001

PyeaR is repressed by NsrR protein under no nitrate or nitric oxide condition, and is activated when nitrate or nitrite is existing.

In theory, the biobrick K381001 can’t emit fluorescence under no nitrate or nitrite. However, the data showed that it can still be activated. In order to improve the biobrick K381001 and decrease the fluorescence basal level, we decided to add an additional nsrR sequence to it so as to reinforce repression and decrease interference. As a result, fluorescence basal level can be decreased, and detection will be enhanced.

To see more details about the construction and result, click the hyperlink below:

>> PyeaR-NsrR binding site-B0030-GFP composite : BBa_K2275011

>> PyeaR-B0030-NsrR binding site-GFP composite : BBa_K2275012

>> PyeaR-NsrR binding site-amplifier-rbs composite constructed by team HFLS_H2Z_hangzhou: [1]

NEU_China_A 2018 Improvement

The promoter PyeaR is sensitive to nitrate and nitrite. When nitrate and nitrite enter E. coli, they are converted to nitric oxide. Nitric oxide binds to the repressor protein NsrR, which inactivates PyeaR to inhibit transcription of downstream genes. Then the promoter PyeaR will be activated.

1. Usage and Biology

We learnt that iGEM 2010 Team BCCS-Bristol had used BBa_K381001 to detect the soil nitrate and nitrite to demonstrate the fertility of soil. Thus, farmers can determine which soils are fertilized by detecting the fluorescence of GFP reporter gene. In this way, farmers only need to apply fertilizer in places where there is no fertility, which can save excess fertilizer. Given the economic costs and the impact of eutrophication on ecosystems, the use of BBa_K381001 has great benefits for both agriculture and the environment. However, due to the influence of outdoor temperature, GFP fluorescence density was fluctuated significantly. This instability is unfavorable for the detection of soil fertility. In addition, the detection of GFP fluorescence signal requires special equipment that is not readily available for farmers. Therefore, we replaced GFP with blue chromoprotein (amilCP encoded protein) for visual detection. On the one hand, amilCP expression is less affected by temperature and is a more stable reporter than GFP. On the other hand, blue chromoprotein can be visualized by human eyes, instead of requiring the special equipment. Therefore, we believe that our improved part BBa_K2817007 is very beneficial to farmers.

2. Characterization

According to the results of the ShanghaiTechChina_B 2016 team, 100μM Sodium Nitroprusside Dihydrate (SNP) aqueous solution can continually release NO, and the NO concentration is stable at about 5.5μM. Since our project also tested for inflammatory signals, we chose this concentration before testing for BBa_K381001 and BBa_K2817007.

The construction of BBa_K381001 can be seen from Figure 1A. We transformed the plasmid containing BBa_K381001 into DH5α competent E. coli strain and cultured at 37 ℃ overnight to dilute to OD600 = 0.4. Then we took half of bacteria as control and the rest was added SNP aqueous solution, and induced at 37 ℃ for 6 h. Then the fluorescence intensity of cells was observed under microplate reader (Figure 1B) and fluorescence inverted microscope (Figure 1C). The histogram of GFP fluorescent density and microscope images indicated that PyeaR could effectively activated by NO and there was almost no leakage expression.

Figure 1. The test of BBa_K381001. A, the construction of BBa_K381001. B, Histogram of GFP fluorescence: LB control, without SNP, with 100μM SNP. C, GFP fluorescence image from top to bottom: without SNP, with 100μM SNP.

The construction of BBa_K2817007 can be seen from Figure 2A. We transformed the plasmid containing BBa_K2817007 into DH5α, and cultured at 37 ℃ overnight to dilute to OD = 0.4. Then we took half as control and the other half added SNP aqueous solution and induced at 37 ℃ for 6 h. We also set up negative control group which doesn’t contain amilCP. After 6 h at 37 ℃, 1 mL of the bacterial solution was centrifuged at 8,000 r.p.m for 1 min (Figure 2B). We could directly observe the result of PyeaR being activated by NO without special equipment.

Figure 2. The test of BBa_K2817007. A, the construction of BBa_K2817007. B, Pellets of bacteria transformed with plasmid containing BBa_K2817007 after induction of 6h. From left to right: negative control group, without SNP group, with 100μM SNP group.

3. Conclusion

In conclusion, we confirmed our improvement through an experimental comparison between the two parts. In the real world, our improved part BBa_K2817007 has better usability. In the future, we will further confirm the situation of different concentrations of NO and different temperature conditions.

Sequence and Features