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Team:Imperial College London/Project Auxin Overview
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| - | <p>Auxin, also known as indole-3 acetic acid (IAA), is a well-studied plant hormone that is responsible for plant growth in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Usually, synthetic auxins like α-Naphthaleneacetic acid (αNAA) and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) are used as herbicides | + | <p>Auxin, also known as indole-3 acetic acid (IAA), is a well-studied plant hormone that is responsible for plant growth in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Usually, synthetic auxins like α-Naphthaleneacetic acid (αNAA) and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) are used as herbicides. They have been in use as herbicides for the past fifty years due to their high effectiveness and cheap cost. </p> |
| - | <p> | + | <p>Although auxin is a growth promoting hormone, it can be a metabolic burden to plants at high concentrations and therefore toxic. Synthetic auxins are extremely stable and can persist in the soil for weeks, which is why they are extremely effective herbicides. Natural auxin, on the other hand, is chemically labile and can be easily metabolized by the plants. Therefore, if we produce natural auxin in our chassis, it should promote rather than stunt plant root growth.</p> |
| + | <p>There is still a risk that natural auxins can be toxic to plants at high concentrations and therefore gene expression levels were modelled <i>in silico</i> to inform the design of the Auxin Xpress module prior to its synthesis. We aim to produce IAA in <i>E. coli</i>, as well as tightly control its expression to remain below the toxic threshold. </p> | ||
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Revision as of 13:02, 17 September 2011
Module 2: Auxin Xpress
Auxin, or Indole 3-acetic acid (IAA), is a plant growth hormone which is produced by several soil bacteria. We have taken the genes encoding the IAA-producing pathway from Pseudomonas savastanoi and expressed them in Escherichia coli. Following chemotaxis towards the roots and uptake by the Phyto Route module, IAA expression will promote root growth with the aim of improving soil stability.
Overview
Auxin, also known as indole-3 acetic acid (IAA), is a well-studied plant hormone that is responsible for plant growth in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Usually, synthetic auxins like α-Naphthaleneacetic acid (αNAA) and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) are used as herbicides. They have been in use as herbicides for the past fifty years due to their high effectiveness and cheap cost.
Although auxin is a growth promoting hormone, it can be a metabolic burden to plants at high concentrations and therefore toxic. Synthetic auxins are extremely stable and can persist in the soil for weeks, which is why they are extremely effective herbicides. Natural auxin, on the other hand, is chemically labile and can be easily metabolized by the plants. Therefore, if we produce natural auxin in our chassis, it should promote rather than stunt plant root growth.
There is still a risk that natural auxins can be toxic to plants at high concentrations and therefore gene expression levels were modelled in silico to inform the design of the Auxin Xpress module prior to its synthesis. We aim to produce IAA in E. coli, as well as tightly control its expression to remain below the toxic threshold.
