Difference between revisions of "Team:Missouri Rolla"

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<img id="cave" src = "https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/d/d1/Mstigem_cave_background.jpg" alt="Missouri cave photographed by Lynn Dieter" />
 
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<a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Project">Project</a><a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Practices">Human Practices</a><br class="menu2" /><a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Parts">Parts</a><br class="menu1" /><a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Notebook">Notebook</a><a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Team">Team</a><br class="menu2" /><a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Safety">Safety</a><a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Attributions">Attributions</a>
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<a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla">Project</a><a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Practices">Human Practices</a><br class="menu2" /><a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Parts">Parts</a><br class="menu1" /><a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Notebook">Notebook</a><a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Team">Team</a><br class="menu2" /><a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Safety">Safety</a><a onmousemove="mouse(event)" href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Missouri_Rolla/Attributions">Attributions</a>
 
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<h1 onmousemove="mouse(event)">DEFENDING NORTH AMERICAN BATS FROM THE EMERGING WHITE-NOSE EPIDEMIC</h1>
 
<h1 onmousemove="mouse(event)">DEFENDING NORTH AMERICAN BATS FROM THE EMERGING WHITE-NOSE EPIDEMIC</h1>
 
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<p onmousemove="mouse(event)">Bats are a vital part of the ecosystem in the United States, providing immeasurable services in terms of pest control, fertilization, and pollination throughout their range. In 2007, a new bat disease was introduced to the United States and has since been spreading rapidly and causing mortality rates as high as 90% in some caves. This disease termed White Nose Syndrome (WNS), caused by <i>Pseudogymnoascus destructans</i> (formerly <i>Geomyces destructans</i>), works though several ways to disturb the bats' hibernation, metabolism, and skin integrity, ultimately leading to the death of most of the affected individuals.</p>
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<p onmousemove="mouse(event)">Bats, despite their bad reputation, are vital to the ecosystem and economy of North America. Bats consume enormous numbers of pests, saving agriculture millions of dollars and reducing pesticide use, while serving as the sole pollinators for many plants. Meanwhile, their waste is the main food source for entire cave ecosystems supporting diverse and unique organisms.</p>
 
<img class="inlinephoto" onmousemove="mouse(event)" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/6/69/Mstigem-whiteglove-bat.jpg" alt="Northern Long-Eared bat about to be released. Photo credit Scott Bergeson" />
 
<img class="inlinephoto" onmousemove="mouse(event)" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/6/69/Mstigem-whiteglove-bat.jpg" alt="Northern Long-Eared bat about to be released. Photo credit Scott Bergeson" />
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<p onmousemove="mouse(event)">Fighting this pathogen has proven to be quite difficult, very little research has been done on the immune response of bats and key aspects of this fungus, which is widespread throughout Europe, leaving scientists to play catch-up while millions of bats succumb to WNS. To make matters worse, it has been found that <i>P. destructans</i> is quite tolerant to changes in its food source, that bats may have a depressed immune response during hibernation, and that many compounds that could be used to fight the fungus are harmful to the native cave flora.</p>
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<p onmousemove="mouse(event)">Since 2007, a fungal disease introduced from Europe has been quickly spreading among bat populations in North America. White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), caused by <i>Pseudogymnoascus destructans</i>, is responsible for mortality rates in excess of 90% in some caves. Included among the wide range of species affected by WNS are several already-endangered species. With current trends, entire bat species could become extinct within decades.</p>
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<p onmousemove="mouse(event)">For the above reasons, we have decided to try to defend the bats rather than aggressively attack the fungus, hoping to slow the fungus and its effects to give the bats more time to make it through the winter and fight off the fungus naturally. We are currently exploring a volatile organic compound (VOC) that has been found to work cooperatively with other chemicals in fungistatic soils. We hope that this chemical alone will slow the growth of the fungus enough to allow bats to survive the winter, but not hinder it enough to force it to evolve to be resistant to this chemical. Concurrently, we are searching for compounds to inhibit the destruction of the bat's skin and a sensing mechanism to detect the presence of the fungus. We hope that with this three-pronged approach, we will be able to successfully defend bats while disturbing the natural habitat as little as possible.</p>
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<p onmousemove="mouse(event)"><i>P. destructans</i> digests the bat’s skin and awakes bats during their crucial hibernation as their body temperature drops. Ultimately, most infected bats die from starvation or inflammatory shock, and estimates suggest more than 6 million bats have already perished.</p>
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<p onmousemove="mouse(event)">Traditional approaches to fungal infections, specifically fungicides, indiscriminately kill beneficial and harmful fungi, while providing strong evolutionary pressure for resistance. We are instead exploring a volatile organic compound, ocimene, which has been shown to slow fungal growth. We are also investigating ways to sense <i>P. destructans</i> to impact the cave environment as little as possible, and compounds that may inhibit metabolism of the bats’ skin. Our hope is that by slowing growth of the fungus, we can defend bats from the disease and give them a chance to recover after hibernation.</p>
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 +
<p onmousemove="mouse(event)">We designed and attempted to assemble two plasmids encoding the mevalonate pathway, along with the enzyme responsible for (E)-beta-ocimene production. Our plan included characterizing the parts by testing <i>in-vivo</i> production of mevalonate and ocimene in <i>E. coli</i>. We could then proceed to <i>in-vitro</i> testing by GST-tagging ocimene synthase, purifying, and preparing an assay with geranylpyrophosphate and testing ocimene production at various conditions. Both halves of the pathway would be tested independently to find the rate-limiting pathway, to provide direction for future groups wanting to modify the pathway.<br /><br /><br /><br /></p>
 
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<p id="credit">Missouri cave photo by Lynn Dieter<br />Northern Long-Eared bat photo by Scott Bergeson</p>
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<p id="credit" onmousemove="mouse(event)">Missouri cave photo by Lynn Dieter<br />Northern Long-Eared bat photo by Scott Bergeson<br />White-Nose Syndrome spread map by Lindsey Heffernan</p>
  
 
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Latest revision as of 03:23, 19 September 2015

Missouri cave photographed by Lynn Dieter

DEFENDING NORTH AMERICAN BATS FROM THE EMERGING WHITE-NOSE EPIDEMIC

Bats, despite their bad reputation, are vital to the ecosystem and economy of North America. Bats consume enormous numbers of pests, saving agriculture millions of dollars and reducing pesticide use, while serving as the sole pollinators for many plants. Meanwhile, their waste is the main food source for entire cave ecosystems supporting diverse and unique organisms.

Northern Long-Eared bat about to be released. Photo credit Scott Bergeson

Since 2007, a fungal disease introduced from Europe has been quickly spreading among bat populations in North America. White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans, is responsible for mortality rates in excess of 90% in some caves. Included among the wide range of species affected by WNS are several already-endangered species. With current trends, entire bat species could become extinct within decades.

P. destructans digests the bat’s skin and awakes bats during their crucial hibernation as their body temperature drops. Ultimately, most infected bats die from starvation or inflammatory shock, and estimates suggest more than 6 million bats have already perished.

Traditional approaches to fungal infections, specifically fungicides, indiscriminately kill beneficial and harmful fungi, while providing strong evolutionary pressure for resistance. We are instead exploring a volatile organic compound, ocimene, which has been shown to slow fungal growth. We are also investigating ways to sense P. destructans to impact the cave environment as little as possible, and compounds that may inhibit metabolism of the bats’ skin. Our hope is that by slowing growth of the fungus, we can defend bats from the disease and give them a chance to recover after hibernation.

White-Nose Syndrome spread map. Map credit Lindsey Heffernan

We designed and attempted to assemble two plasmids encoding the mevalonate pathway, along with the enzyme responsible for (E)-beta-ocimene production. Our plan included characterizing the parts by testing in-vivo production of mevalonate and ocimene in E. coli. We could then proceed to in-vitro testing by GST-tagging ocimene synthase, purifying, and preparing an assay with geranylpyrophosphate and testing ocimene production at various conditions. Both halves of the pathway would be tested independently to find the rate-limiting pathway, to provide direction for future groups wanting to modify the pathway.



Missouri cave photo by Lynn Dieter
Northern Long-Eared bat photo by Scott Bergeson
White-Nose Syndrome spread map by Lindsey Heffernan