Introduction
The Dundee iGem team began this project with a series of meetings during which ideas were explored, and areas of interest were discussed to find a project focus that appealed to the team. After much debating, the area of healthcare was chosen, and the project goals were refined to concentrate on a method to counteract corruption of the natural gut flora balance by clostridium difficile (C. diff.). Individuals undergoing long term antibiotic treatment can suffer from pseudomembranous colitis caused by C. diff., and the team's aim is to modify Escherichia coli (E. coli) to attack C. diff. in a manner that restores the natural balance of the gut flora.
C.Diff Lysis
Recent research
[1] investigating
C. diff. cell disruption identified a bacteriophage ΦCD27 which encodes an endolysin that can effectively lyse
C. diff. and which can be expressed within
E.coli. It is the team's intention to create
E.coli cells with capability to express ΦCD27 endolysin which will be delivered via a secretion system that permits transference of the endolysin through penetrative cell wall contact.
The team plan to introduce the ΦCD27 endolysin to the
C. diff. cells within the intestinal tract via the creation of a type VI secretion system
[2] which will be expressed within the
E. coli cells. By adopting the type VI secretion system to facilitate endolysin delivery, the team hope to provide a foundation for systems that employ targetted
C. diff. treatment.
Micrograph depicting Gram-positive C. diff bacteria using a .1µm filter.
Public Domain : Obtained from CDC image library (http://phil.cdc.gov)
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