Part:BBa_K4881027

Part Information

The construct starts with a T7 promoter, followed by a ribosome binding site and MHETase linked to PETase. PETase encodes for the PETase enzyme, which catalyzes the breakdown of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to monomeric mono-2-hydroxyethyl terephthalate (MHET). MHETase encodes for the production of the MHETase enzyme, which catalyzes the breakdown of MHET to ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. These genes are joined together by a 12 amino acid linker containing glycine and serine. This combination seemed to obtain better results in expression according to the paper “Characterization and engineering of a two-enzyme system for plastics depolymerization”, where it was compared with an 8 amino acid linker and a 20 amino acid linker. Finally, before the double terminator, our team decided to add a reporter gene that would express pink chromoprotein as a visual indicator that the bacteria took the plasmid.

Usage

This part was initially used for the project PlastE.co from the team FDR-HB-Peru in the season 2023. This device was the insert of an ampicillin-resistant plasmid that was transformed into competent E. coli cells. This device was the first step for turning PET plastic into ethanol, as it will break down PET into ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid.