THE OBJECTIVE
The mass production of anthocyanin compounds may have significant implications in the treatment and prevention of a large number of diseases and disorders. Therefore the goal of this project is to produce a recombinant strain of Escherichia coli which is capable of expressing the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway. This will lead to the visualization of a blue phenotype when the strain is cultured. This has two primary goals: to create a system for procuring useful products, and to be used as a colorimetric tool in subsequent synthetic biology projects. This project is modelled on a previous application of synthetic biology involving the expression of the lycopene pathway in E.coli by Klein-Marcuschamer et al (2007).
A BLUE E. COLI IS A HAPPY E. COLI
REFERENCES
Klein-Marcuschamer, D., Kumaran Ajikumar, P., & Stephanopoulos, G. (2007). Engineering
microbial cell factories for the biosynthesis of isoprenoid molecules: Beyond lycopene.
Trends in Biotechnology, 25(9). 417-424. doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2007.07.006
