Team:Sydney Australia/project overview
Project Overview
We are working to optimise the expression of the enzyme ethene monooxygenase (MO).
This enzyme, natively found in Mycobacterium smegmatis performs the epoxide reaction converting ethylene to ethylene oxide. In its native host, the enzyme is near impossible to work with on an industrial scale. Consequently, we are trying to optimise expression of this enzyme in Escherichia coli. Due to the vast genetic differences between these two bacteria, we first tried to increase expression in Pseudomonas putida as it functioned as a stepping stone to E. Coli. If successful, this bacteria will be capable of performing biocatalysis (green chemical synthesis) and bioremediation (biological degradation of pollutants) reactions.
