Team:UCSF

This year, the UCSF iGEM team will research how to develop artificial biofilms via yeast cell surface display. Our team will be working with the non-pathogenic yeast strain S. Cerevisiae. Our goal is to be able to control the forming of biofilms by the yeast cells. Many species of yeast and bacteria readily form biofilms as a means of survival. These biofilms are composed of cells that aggregate to each other or to a surface. This year, the UCSF iGEM team has researched how to develop artificial biofilms via yeast cell surface display. We are synthetically engineering S. cerevisiae to form biofilm-like interactions that we can control by inducing display of adhesive proteins on the surface. The surface display system that we are using takes advantage of the natural yeast mating receptors, Aga1 and Aga2. We have chosen adhesive proteins from a variety of other organisms in order to create a range of interactions between the cells. The synthetic cell adhesion and interactions we are creating can serve as a model for biofilm formation and other types of cell-cell adhesion.

Learn more about biofilms, check out our project description or see awesome pictures from this summer!