Welcome to our iGem page

Our project aims to provide an alternative solution to produce nano wire. Our system takes advantage of the endogenous curli system of E.coli to produce functional extracellular amyloid composed of sup35. The curli system uses the Sec transport pathway to translocate sup35 through the inner membrane where it is transported from the periplasm through a specific pore to the outer membrane where it assembles into repeating units. We intend to engineer the sup35 to have a bound cytochrome b562 that will transport electrons along the amyloid fibrils. Due to export relying on the Sec pathway cytochrome b562 cannot properly fold because it requires the cofactor haem, which we are able to add to the growth medium to facilitate folding. The wider aim of the project is to funnel electrons from the electron transport chain into the sup35/cytochrome b562 nanowire which would provide a completely renewable source of energy that could be used to power small consumer products.