Team:Cornell/testing/project/wetlab/1

Summary

We began the summer by holding a synthetic biology bootcamp at the DeLisa Lab. The purpose of this bootcamp was both to introduce new members to techniques in molecular biology and to get a running start on the cloning work for our project. During bootcamp, we successfully constructed both versions of our arsenic reporter, and attempted a Gibson assembly of a naphthalene-degrading plasmid.

In late June, we transitioned from bootcamp to our permanent bench space in Dr. Archer’s lab in Weill Hall. After spending a few weeks setting up the lab space troubleshooting general issues, we successfully constructed both versions of our salicylate reporter and began an alternative approach to construct a plasmid with a naphthalene-degrading operon. In parallel, we realized that electroporation efficiency for Shewanella transformation is less than optimal—to say the least. However, we were able to conjugate our constructs into Shewanella using a protocol provided by Dr. Gralnick.

As we transitioned into the fall semester, wetlab work was divided into ‘task forces’.

• Site Directed mutagenesis
• Western blotting
• qPCR
• Nah operon into Shewanella
• Running reactors
• Artificial River Media