Difference between revisions of "Team:HKUST-Rice"

 
(28 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown)
Line 6: Line 6:
 
                 <style type="text/css">
 
                 <style type="text/css">
  
#quicklink {
+
#quicklink {
padding: 0px;
+
padding-left: 8%;
margin: 0px;
+
padding-bottom: 30px;
width: 100%;
+
width: 92%;
                                 min-height: 500px;
+
                                 min-height: 300px;
 
float: left;
 
float: left;
 
background-color: #1b1c3a;  
 
background-color: #1b1c3a;  
 
font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Helvetica, sans-serif;
 
font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Helvetica, sans-serif;
 
}
 
}
 
img.button {
 
    opacity: 1.0;
 
    filter: alpha(opacity=100); /* For IE8 and earlier */
 
}
 
 
img.button:hover {
 
    opacity: 0.7;
 
    filter: alpha(opacity=80); /* For IE8 and earlier */
 
}
 
  
  
Line 37: Line 27:
  
  
                        #Directory { 
 
width: 100%;
 
overflow:hidden;
 
                                margin-left: 0px;
 
float:left;
 
background-color: #000000;
 
font-family: "Trebuchet MS", Helvetica, sans-serif;
 
}               
 
                          /*Style the Directory*/     
 
                          #Directory table {
 
                                Background-color: #000000;
 
                                color: #FFFFFF;
 
                                padding-top: 20px;
 
                                line-height: 20px;
 
                                min.height: 50px;
 
                                width:90%;
 
                                font-size: 120%;
 
                                margin-left: 5%;
 
                          }
 
               
 
 
                /*Style the Directory button*/     
 
                        #Directory li a, a:visited, a {
 
                                color: #FFFFFF;
 
                                padding: 0px;
 
                        } 
 
 
div.project_row a{
 
div.project_row a{
 
color:#5570b0;
 
color:#5570b0;
Line 103: Line 67:
  
 
#Slider #Slide1 {
 
#Slider #Slide1 {
background-image: url(https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/b/ba/HKUST-Rice15_Overview.jpg);
+
background-image: url(https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/c/c6/Team_HKUST-Rice_2015_overviewslider.jpg);
 
         display: none;
 
         display: none;
 
}
 
}
  
 
         #Slider #Slide2 {
 
         #Slider #Slide2 {
background-image: url(https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/7/7a/HKUST-Rice15_Potassium_biosensor.jpg);
+
background-image: url(https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/f/f3/Team_HKUST-Rice_2015_potassiumslider.jpg);
 
         display: none;
 
         display: none;
 
}
 
}
  
 
#Slider #Slide3 {
 
#Slider #Slide3 {
background-image: url(https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/8/8d/HKUST-Rice15_Phosphate_biosensor.jpg);
+
background-image: url(https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/5/58/Team_HKUST-Rice_2015_phosphateslider.jpg);
 
display: none;
 
display: none;
 
}
 
}
  
 
#Slider #Slide4 {
 
#Slider #Slide4 {
background-image: url(https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/b/b5/HKUST-Rice15_Nitrate_biosensor.jpg);
+
background-image: url(https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/8/89/Team_HKUST-Rice_2015_nitrateslider.jpg);
 
display: none;
 
display: none;
 
}
 
}
Line 251: Line 215:
 
<div class= "project_content">
 
<div class= "project_content">
 
<div class= "project_row">
 
<div class= "project_row">
<p>Potassium (K), phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) are three plant macronutrients, and deficiencies in any of these can lead to plant diseases. By creating a biological sensor that can quickly provide soil status to plant owners, we can prevent plant diseases caused by the lack of nutrients.</p>
+
<p>Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are three essential macronutrients needed for healthy plant growth. By creating a biological sensor that can quickly provide the status of these macronutrients in the soil, we can provide farmers with the tools to monitor and respond to potential nutrition deficiencies.
<p>In previous iGEM competitions, nitrate and phosphate responsive promoters have been explored extensively. However, a potassium responsive promoter is still lacking. In view of this, our team constructed a biological sensor in <i>E. coli</i>, which can detect KPN levels in the surrounding environment and give responses in the form of colors. In addition, we characterized the effects of a dual output system, in contrast to a single output system, in order to anticipate the expression of multiple outputs in a single system.</p>
+
In previous iGEM projects, nitrate- and phosphate-responsive promoters have been utilized extensively. However, a potassium-responsive promoter was still lacking. Our team submitted the first ever potassium-sensing promoter to the Part Registry, in addition to  providing more comprehensive characterization data for the existing phosphate- and nitrate-responsive promoters. Our biological sensors are constructed in <i>E. coli</i>, to detect NPK levels in the surrounding environment and produce a measurable level of reporter protein. To simulate the expression of multiple sensors in a single system, we characterized the effects of a parallel sensors system, in contrast to a single output system.</p>
 
   <p style=" text-align: right"><a class=" learn" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Description"> Learn more ... </a></p>
 
   <p style=" text-align: right"><a class=" learn" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Description"> Learn more ... </a></p>
 
</div>
 
</div>
Line 259: Line 223:
 
<hr class="para">
 
<hr class="para">
 
<h1>The Journey of HKUST-Rice iGEM team </h1>
 
<h1>The Journey of HKUST-Rice iGEM team </h1>
<p>We are HKUST-Rice iGEM team. Our team is the first cross continental team in iGEM, comprising of <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Team" >32 student members</a>- 18 from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and 14 from Rice University. The benefit from forming a large joint team is that we have members coming from different disciplines which contribute different perspectives to the project. With the combined force from our members, we show the result of our work over the summer.</p>
+
 
<p>Taking the native metabolic pathway found in <i>E. coli</i>, we have designed a <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Potassium_Sensor" >potassium ion (K<sup>+</sup>) regulated construct</a> and a <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Nitrate_Sensor_PdcuS" >nitrate (NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>) regulated construct</a> that could potentially report the K<sup>+</sup> and NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> level in soil. Since previous iGEM teams have also worked on <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Nitrate_Sensor_PyeaR" >nitrate regulated promoters</a> and<a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Phosphate_Sensor" > phosphate regulated promoters</a>, our team utilized these promoters and further characterized them in order to provide more information on these promoters.</p>
+
<p>The HKUST-Rice iGEM team is the first transcontinental team in iGEM, comprising of <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Team"> 31 student members</a>- 18 from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and 13 from Rice University. The benefit of forming a large joint team is that we have members coming from different disciplines who contribute different perspectives to the project. This has enabled us to tackle a broad subject matter effectively.
<p>In addition, we characterized the effects of a <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Expression" >dual output system</a>, in contrast to a single output system, in order to predict the expression of multiple outputs in a single system.</p>
+
 
<p>When it comes to the real application method of our biosensors, our team considered two factors- biological <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Safety" >safety</a> and feasibility. Biological safety is our priority, especially since the practical application of our project is related to the agricultural business. In our plan of applying the biosensor, we chose to deliver the biosensor in a <a href ="" >cell-free system</a>, which has no capability to sustain itself in the wild. However, after factoring in the feasibility, we think that delivering our biosensor in <a href ="" >common soil bacteria</a> will be more practical. Hence we perform proof-of-concept experiments to demonstrate our idea. </p>
+
<p>Taking the native metabolic pathway found in <i>E. coli</i>, we have designed a <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Potassium_Sensor" >potassium ion (K<sup>+</sup>) regulated construct</a> and a <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Nitrate_Sensor_PdcuS" >nitrate-(NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>) regulated construct</a> that could potentially report the K<sup>+</sup> and NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> level in soil. Since previous iGEM teams have also worked on <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Nitrate_Sensor_PyeaR" >nitrate-regulated promoters</a> and<a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Phosphate_Sensor" > phosphate-regulated promoters</a>, our team utilized these promoters and further characterized them in order to provide more information on these promoters.</p>
 +
 +
<p>In addition, we characterized the effects of a <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Expression" >parallel sensors system</a>, in contrast to a single output system, in order to predict the expression of multiple outputs in a single system.</p>
 +
 +
<p>When it comes to the real application method of our biosensors, our team considered two factors- biological <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Safety" >safety</a> and feasibility. Biological safety is our priority, especially since the practical application of our project is related to the agricultural business. In our plan of applying the biosensor, we chose to deliver the biosensor in a <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Application#pp" >cell-free system</a>, which has no capability to sustain itself in the wild. However, after factoring in the feasibility, we think that delivering our biosensor in <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Application#cc" >common soil bacteria</a> will be more practical. Hence we perform proof-of-concept experiments to demonstrate our idea. </p>
 
<p>Besides lab work, we also engaged the community- introducing synthetic biology to the younger community by <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Practices_Debate" >debating</a> and interacting with and  <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Practices_ExploratoryResearch" >gathering the community's perception</a> regarding biosensors and genetic engineering technology. Through engagement with the community, we gained valuable feedback and comments which we then used to improve our design. </p>
 
<p>Besides lab work, we also engaged the community- introducing synthetic biology to the younger community by <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Practices_Debate" >debating</a> and interacting with and  <a href ="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Practices_ExploratoryResearch" >gathering the community's perception</a> regarding biosensors and genetic engineering technology. Through engagement with the community, we gained valuable feedback and comments which we then used to improve our design. </p>
 
</div>
 
</div>
Line 271: Line 239:
  
 
<div id="quicklink">
 
<div id="quicklink">
<a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Potassium_Sensor"><image class="button" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/0/02/Team_HKUST-Rice_2015_K.png" style="width: 30%; height: 220px; position: absolute; left: 3%"></a>
+
<a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Nitrate_Sensor_PdcuS"><image class="button" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/4/4f/Team_HKUST-Rice_2015_N.png" style="width: 30%; position: relevant; left: 3%"></a>
  
<a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Phosphate_Sensor"><image class="button" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/3/3b/Team_HKUST-Rice_2015_P.png" style="width: 30%; height: 220px; position: absolute; left: 35%"></a>
+
<a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Phosphate_Sensor"><image class="button" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/3/3b/Team_HKUST-Rice_2015_P.png" style="width: 30%; position: relevant; left: 35%"></a>
  
<a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Nitrate_Sensor_PdcuS"><image class="button" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/4/4f/Team_HKUST-Rice_2015_N.png" style="width: 30%; height: 220px; position: absolute; left: 67%"></a>
+
<a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Potassium_Sensor"><image class="button" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/0/02/Team_HKUST-Rice_2015_K.png" style="width: 30%; position: relevant; left: 67%"></a>
<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>
+
  
<a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Practices"><image class="button" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/b/bf/Team-2015-HKUST-Rice-new_human_practice.png" style="width: 30%; height: 220px; position: absolute; left: 3%"></a>
+
<a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Practices"><image class="button" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/b/bf/Team-2015-HKUST-Rice-new_human_practice.png" style="width: 30%; position: relevant; left: 3%"></a>
  
<a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Expression"><image class="button" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/8/8b/HKUST-Rice15_Expressionbutton.png" style="width: 30%; height: 220px; position: absolute; left: 35%"></a>
+
<a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Expression"><image class="button" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/8/83/Team_HKUST-Rice_2015_ParallelSensorsexpression_0918.png" style="width: 30%; position: relevant; left: 35%"></a>
  
<a href=" https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Potassium_Sensor#results"><image class="button" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/b/be/HKUST-Rice15_Resultsbutton.png" style="width: 30%; height: 220px; position: absolute; left: 67%"></a>
+
<a href=" https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Application"><image class="button" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/0/03/Team_HKUST-Rice15_applicationbutton.png" style="width: 30%; position: relevant; left: 67%"></a>
  
 
</div>
 
</div>
Line 288: Line 255:
  
 
</div> <!--These are the closing tags for div id="mainContainer" and div id="contentContainer". The corresponding opening tags appear in the template that is {{included}} at the top of this page.-->  
 
</div> <!--These are the closing tags for div id="mainContainer" and div id="contentContainer". The corresponding opening tags appear in the template that is {{included}} at the top of this page.-->  
 
 
 
 
 
<div id="Directory">
 
 
 
  <table align="center">
 
             
 
<tr>
 
                    <th><a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice">Home</a></th>
 
                    <th><a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Description" style="color:white">Project</a></th>
 
            <!-- <th><a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Nitrate_Sensor_PducS">Result</a></th> -->
 
                    <th><a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Parts">Achievement</a></th>
 
                    <th><a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Team">Team</a></th>
 
                    <th><a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Practices">Human Practices</a></th>
 
                    <th><a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Notebook">Wetlab</a></th>
 
                    <th><a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Application">Future Work</a></th>
 
                   
 
                   
 
        </tr>
 
 
 
<tr Style= "vertical-align: top">
 
                    <td></td>
 
             
 
                    <td><ul>
 
                        <li><a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Description">Overview</a></li>
 
                        <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Potassium_Sensor">Potassium</a></li>
 
                        <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Phosphate_Sensor">Phosphate</a></li>
 
                        <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Nitrate_Sensor_PdcuS">Nitrate</a>
 
                            <ul>
 
                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Nitrate_Sensor_PdcuS"><i>dcuSp</i></a></li>
 
                            <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Nitrate_Sensor_PyeaR"><i>yeaRp</i></a></li>
 
                            </ul>
 
                        </li>
 
                    </ul></td>
 
 
                  <!-- <td><ul>
 
                        <li><a href= "#">Nitrate</a></li>
 
                        <li><a href= "#">Phosphate</a></li>
 
                        <li><a href= "#">Potassium</a></li>
 
                        <li><a href= "#">Expression</a></li>
 
                </ul></td> -->
 
 
 
                    <td><ul>
 
                        <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Parts">Parts</a></li>
 
                        <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/MEDAL">Medal Requirement</a></li>
 
                    </ul></td>
 
 
 
                    <td><ul>
 
                        <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Team">Members</a></li>
 
                        <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Advisors">Advisors</a></li>
 
                        <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Instructors">Instructors</a></li>
 
                        <li><a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Attributions">Attribution</a></li>
 
                    </ul></td>
 
 
 
                    <td><ul>
 
    <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Practices">Introduction</a></li>
 
    <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Practices_ExploratoryResearch">Exploratory Research</a></li>
 
                        <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Practices_Debate">Bioethical Debate</a></li>
 
                    </ul></td>
 
 
                 
 
                    <td><ul>
 
                        <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Notebook">Notebook</a></li>
 
    <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Protocol">Protocol</a></li>
 
                        <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Safety">Safety</a></li>
 
                    </ul></td>
 
 
 
              <!--      <td><ul>
 
                        <li>Basic</li>
 
                        <li>Composite</li>
 
                    </ul></td>
 
 
                    <td><ul>
 
                        <li>Design</li>
 
                        <li>Labwork</li>
 
                        <li>Shipment</li>
 
                    </ul></td>      -->
 
 
                    <td><ul>
 
                        <li><a href= "https://2015.igem.org/Team:HKUST-Rice/Application">Application</a></li>
 
                        <li>Improvement</li>
 
                    </ul></td>
 
 
              </tr>
 
               
 
              </table>
 
  
 
</body>
 
</body>
Line 448: Line 323:
  
 
</html>
 
</html>
 +
{{HKUST-Rice Directory}}

Latest revision as of 03:16, 19 September 2015

Project Description

Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) are three essential macronutrients needed for healthy plant growth. By creating a biological sensor that can quickly provide the status of these macronutrients in the soil, we can provide farmers with the tools to monitor and respond to potential nutrition deficiencies. In previous iGEM projects, nitrate- and phosphate-responsive promoters have been utilized extensively. However, a potassium-responsive promoter was still lacking. Our team submitted the first ever potassium-sensing promoter to the Part Registry, in addition to providing more comprehensive characterization data for the existing phosphate- and nitrate-responsive promoters. Our biological sensors are constructed in E. coli, to detect NPK levels in the surrounding environment and produce a measurable level of reporter protein. To simulate the expression of multiple sensors in a single system, we characterized the effects of a parallel sensors system, in contrast to a single output system.

Learn more ...


The Journey of HKUST-Rice iGEM team

The HKUST-Rice iGEM team is the first transcontinental team in iGEM, comprising of 31 student members- 18 from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and 13 from Rice University. The benefit of forming a large joint team is that we have members coming from different disciplines who contribute different perspectives to the project. This has enabled us to tackle a broad subject matter effectively.

Taking the native metabolic pathway found in E. coli, we have designed a potassium ion (K+) regulated construct and a nitrate-(NO3-) regulated construct that could potentially report the K+ and NO3- level in soil. Since previous iGEM teams have also worked on nitrate-regulated promoters and phosphate-regulated promoters, our team utilized these promoters and further characterized them in order to provide more information on these promoters.

In addition, we characterized the effects of a parallel sensors system, in contrast to a single output system, in order to predict the expression of multiple outputs in a single system.

When it comes to the real application method of our biosensors, our team considered two factors- biological safety and feasibility. Biological safety is our priority, especially since the practical application of our project is related to the agricultural business. In our plan of applying the biosensor, we chose to deliver the biosensor in a cell-free system, which has no capability to sustain itself in the wild. However, after factoring in the feasibility, we think that delivering our biosensor in common soil bacteria will be more practical. Hence we perform proof-of-concept experiments to demonstrate our idea.

Besides lab work, we also engaged the community- introducing synthetic biology to the younger community by debating and interacting with and gathering the community's perception regarding biosensors and genetic engineering technology. Through engagement with the community, we gained valuable feedback and comments which we then used to improve our design.