Team:TU-Delft/overview

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The TU Delft iGEM team is working on yeast, a simple eukaryote. One of our goals is to enable this organism to detect, or smell, the scent associated with tuberculosis or bananas.  
The TU Delft iGEM team is working on yeast, a simple eukaryote. One of our goals is to enable this organism to detect, or smell, the scent associated with tuberculosis or bananas.  
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For this project, we will use the mating pathway and alter it a little. Yeast genders are called 'a' and 'α'. Both genders extract pheromones, also called 'a'- and 'α'-pheromones. The 'a'-Yeasts are able to detect the 'α'-pheromones, and so the other way around. Upon detection, the yeast cells will show a mating response, called a shmoo. </p>
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For this project, we will use the mating pathway and alter it a little.  
 +
<h3>Sex response of S. cerevisiae</h3><br>
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Yeast genders are called 'a' and 'α', and both genders extract pheromones called 'a'- and 'α'-pheromones. The 'a'-Yeasts are able to detect the 'α'-pheromones, and so the other way around. Upon detection, the yeast cells will show a mating response, called a shmoo. </p>
<p style="color:#2ab118;">The image below links to the page explaining more about yeast and why we decided to use it!</p>
<p style="color:#2ab118;">The image below links to the page explaining more about yeast and why we decided to use it!</p>
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<h3>I'd appreciate your input!</h3>
<h3>I'd appreciate your input!</h3>
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<p>Once the pheromone-receptors detects pheromones of another gender, a larger gene cascade starts to assemble. The moment that the pheromone binds to the receptor, the G-alpha subunit comes to action. This protein, directed by the GPA-gene starts a signal leading to growth arrest and the mating response, a shmoo. To make the smelling device, our yeast cells need a niacin-(the scent associated with tuberculosis) receptor. This receptor is put in the same place as the pheromone receptor and will use the same pathway. This is easily done by using the same promoter in front of the gene coding for the receptor.</p>
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<p>Once the pheromone-receptors detects pheromones of another gender, the G-alpha subunit comes to action, dissociating from the GPCR complex. This protein starts a signal leading to growth arrest and to a mating response, of which the morphology is called a shmoo. To make the smelling device to detect tuberculosis, our yeast cells need a Methyl nicotinate- (the scent associated with tuberculosis) receptor. Unfortunately a methyl nicotinate receptor isn't characterized as such yet and we chose a very related ligand receptor: niacin. This receptor, due to it's chimeric properties is transported to the same place as the pheromone receptor and will use the same pathway. In the end our goal is to see whether we can change this receptor through directed mutagenesis to let it smell methyl nicotinate.</p>
<p style="color:#2ab118;"> To view the plasmids we have made and the accompanying experiments you can click the image below.</p>   
<p style="color:#2ab118;"> To view the plasmids we have made and the accompanying experiments you can click the image below.</p>   
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<h3>At least it puts out</h3>
<h3>At least it puts out</h3>
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<p>When the cell detects a smell, niacin in this case, we do not want the cell growth to stop, so we deleted the FAR1-gene, which causes growth arrest.  
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<p>When the cell detects a smell, niacin in this case, we do not want the cell growth to stop, so we deleted the far1-gene, which causes growth arrest.  
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Upon detecting this niacin molecule, we would like to see more than a mating response, the shmoo. For this reason, we added a GFP-output which is promoted by the same promoter as the mating response, the FUS1. </p>  
+
Upon detecting this niacin molecule, we would like to see more than a mating response, the shmoo. For this reason, we added a GFP-output which is promoted by the mating response, the FUS1. </p>  
<p style="color:#2ab118;">Click the image to learn more about our GFP-output!</p>
<p style="color:#2ab118;">Click the image to learn more about our GFP-output!</p>
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<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/igem.org/d/db/Output_picture.jpg" name="kugroup" width="500"  border="0" id="kugroup" /></a></div>
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<h3> Our product is a yeast cell which can detect Niacin, associated with tuberculosis, and shows a GFP-output upon this detection. We have also experimented with a banana-smell and a couple of other smells with which the Hong Kong team has experimented before us.</h3>
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<h3> Our product is a yeast cell which can detect methyl nicotinate, associated with tuberculosis, and shows a GFP-output upon this detection. We have also experimented with a banana-smell and a couple of other smells with which the Hong Kong team has experimented before us.</h3>
</div>
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Revision as of 19:15, 26 September 2012

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Receptor

Do you smell bananas?

Yeast, we choose you!

The TU Delft iGEM team is working on yeast, a simple eukaryote. One of our goals is to enable this organism to detect, or smell, the scent associated with tuberculosis or bananas. For this project, we will use the mating pathway and alter it a little.

Sex response of S. cerevisiae


Yeast genders are called 'a' and 'α', and both genders extract pheromones called 'a'- and 'α'-pheromones. The 'a'-Yeasts are able to detect the 'α'-pheromones, and so the other way around. Upon detection, the yeast cells will show a mating response, called a shmoo.

The image below links to the page explaining more about yeast and why we decided to use it!


I'd appreciate your input!

Once the pheromone-receptors detects pheromones of another gender, the G-alpha subunit comes to action, dissociating from the GPCR complex. This protein starts a signal leading to growth arrest and to a mating response, of which the morphology is called a shmoo. To make the smelling device to detect tuberculosis, our yeast cells need a Methyl nicotinate- (the scent associated with tuberculosis) receptor. Unfortunately a methyl nicotinate receptor isn't characterized as such yet and we chose a very related ligand receptor: niacin. This receptor, due to it's chimeric properties is transported to the same place as the pheromone receptor and will use the same pathway. In the end our goal is to see whether we can change this receptor through directed mutagenesis to let it smell methyl nicotinate.

To view the plasmids we have made and the accompanying experiments you can click the image below.

At least it puts out

When the cell detects a smell, niacin in this case, we do not want the cell growth to stop, so we deleted the far1-gene, which causes growth arrest. Upon detecting this niacin molecule, we would like to see more than a mating response, the shmoo. For this reason, we added a GFP-output which is promoted by the mating response, the FUS1.

Click the image to learn more about our GFP-output!

Our product is a yeast cell which can detect methyl nicotinate, associated with tuberculosis, and shows a GFP-output upon this detection. We have also experimented with a banana-smell and a couple of other smells with which the Hong Kong team has experimented before us.