Team:Bilkent UNAM Turkey

Chlamy the TermiNaTor

Abstract

We aim to genetically modify unicellular microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by intro ducing nfsI gene of bacterium Enterobacter cloacae in order to investigate how nitroreductase expressing-microalgae respond to trinitrotol uene (TNT) exposure. Our experimental design is as follows: obtain a synthetic g ene of nfsI with flanking prefix and suffix of standard Biobricks, and ligate this insert to pRbcBRL, a vector w ith appropriate expression and selection system for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and obtain pRbcnfsI. Then, we can transform Chlamydomonas reinhardtii with designed plasmid. After engineering microalgae, we will grow them in t he presence of TNT and investigate effectiveness of nitroreductase activity on biological degradation of TNT.