Team:Stanford-Brown/Biomining/Introduction

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Latest revision as of 00:58, 4 October 2012

Biomining

The ability to extract or recycle metals is key to long-term human survival in space. Flying up traditional heavy-duty equipment to perform these functions is not viable economically or structurally. Bacteria are small, easy to transport, and can multiply and regenerate themselves. They can be used to extract metals from sediment on solid planets or asteroids, or to recycle metal electronics aboard spacecraft.

Existing bacteria with the ability to mine metal gather metal ions either within the cell body or on the cell surface. For our project, we modified a unique flagellar protein expression system, originally employed by iGEM Team Slovenia 2008 as a novel flagellin vaccine. We attempted to make metal ion harvesting more robust by expressing metal binding peptides on bacterial flagella: we could chemically remove flagella from the bacterial body and collect the ions without killing the organism.

Additionally, we redesigned Team Slovenia 2008's [http://partsregistry.org/wiki/index.php?title=Part:BBa_K133038 flagellar protein expression system], “FliC,” to have a general-use multiple cloning site. This way, anyone wishing to express proteins on flagella can do so using our [http://partsregistry.org/Part:BBa_K847101 biobrick].

So what did we do?

We created a standard for expression of proteins on flagellin protein FliC in part K847101.
We engineered K847101 to express metalbinding ions to harvest metal ions in situ.

Retrieved from "http://2012.igem.org/Team:Stanford-Brown/Biomining/Introduction"

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+<li><a href="#" id="project">Biomining:</a></li>
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+<li><a href="/Team:Stanford-Brown/Biomining/Harvesting">Harvesting</a></li>
+<li><a href="/Team:Stanford-Brown/Parts">BioBricks</a></li>
+<li><a href="https://docs.google.com/a/stanford.edu/document/d/1RfsxBERl_GZoXgjWbqzlezqknuxjKNX8bjLudxNzz9U/edit">Notebook</a></li>
+<li><a href="/Team:Stanford-Brown/Protocols">Protocols</a></li>
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+== '''Biomining''' ==
+The ability to extract or recycle metals is key to long-term human survival in space. Flying up traditional heavy-duty equipment to perform these functions is not viable economically or structurally. Bacteria are small, easy to transport, and can multiply and regenerate themselves. They can be used to extract metals from sediment on solid planets or asteroids, or to recycle metal electronics aboard spacecraft.
-==Biomining==
+Existing bacteria with the ability to mine metal gather metal ions either within the cell body or on the cell surface. For our project, we modified a unique flagellar protein expression system, originally employed by [https://2008.igem.org/Team:Slovenia iGEM Team Slovenia 2008] as a novel flagellin vaccine. We attempted to make metal ion harvesting more robust by expressing metal binding peptides on bacterial flagella: we could chemically remove flagella from the bacterial body and collect the ions without killing the organism.
-To colonize space, we need to extract metals as building materials. But bringing heavy-duty equipment for traditional mining is not viable economically or structurally.  As a solution, bacteria and other biological organisms can be used to extract metals from sediment on solid planets or asteroids. Bacteria are small enough to be economically attractive, easier to transport, and can mine the same or more amount than traditional methods .
+Additionally, we redesigned Team Slovenia 2008's [http://partsregistry.org/wiki/index.php?title=Part:BBa_K133038 flagellar protein expression system], “FliC,” to have a general-use multiple cloning site. This way, anyone wishing to express proteins on flagella can do so using our [http://partsregistry.org/Part:BBa_K847101 biobrick].
-We have two biomining projects we are pursuing:
-'''Iron Biomining'''
-Iron (Fe) is one of the most common elements in space . It makes up a significant portion of the surface of Mars and is common in the mantle and core of asteroids .  Once extracted, iron is relatively easy to purify through chemical means and then can be casted or converted into steel products for building, which is useful both on Earth and in Space.  There are already a number of noted species of bacteria that are used for iron heap biomining, all of which are naturally adapted to the heap environment.
-We want to characterize an iron-oxidation biobrick from these natural oxidizers to place in E.coli, which does not naturally oxidize iron.  We plan to look at two strains of iron oxidizing bacteria: ''A. ferooxidans'' and ''Acidovorax sp.''
-Another issue we want to address with synthetic biology is that of heat accumulation in the iron heap during the biomining process.  “Generation of heap temperatures greater than 60 ̊C provided ideal temperatures for the growth of thermophilic microorganisms, although no iron- oxidizing bacteria capable of growth at 65 ̊C were detected” .  We want to characterize heat resistance genes from thermophilic bacteria adapted to temperatures acquired in the heap. We will insert these genes in ''E. coli'' and test for heat resistance.
-If this approach is unsuccessful, another method to address the problem of heat is to look at bacterial quorum sensing.  We have identified a heat-sensitive promoter that we would insert before a gene for mobility.  This will most likely be flagella movement, for which there are existing biobricks.
+[[File:Biomining.png|right|text-bottom|300px]]
-'''Manganese Biomining'''
+'''So what did we do?'''
-Manganese has been proven to provide radiation resistance, which is a crucial survival function in space.  Mn biomining involves reducing Mn+4 to Mn+2.  It is an enzymatic process involved in the respiratory system, in which Mn is a terminal electron acceptor .  This leads to Mn accumulation within the cells, which can be extracted for use.
+*We created a standard for expression of proteins on flagellin protein FliC in part K847101.
+*We engineered K847101 to express metalbinding ions to harvest metal ions ''in situ''.