Blueprint of our project
In today’s modern world, greenhouse gases such as NOx and SOx pose a major global issue that needs to be addressed. These oxides also increase the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere which are responsible for the photochemical production of ozone in the lower layers of the atmosphere which has detrimental effects. Sulfur Oxides (SOx) are the main precursors of air pollution which is a deteriorating problem as well. Producing acid rain and acidified soils, Sulfur Oxides not only result in respiratory problems such as asthma and pneumonia, but also destroy farm crops, buildings and environment, causing loss of millions of dollars every year.
Fig.1 Pollution
Both these gases also have detrimental effects on the environment and our team plans to combat this catastrophic effect by reducing the amount of the NOx and SOx gases ejected through the exhaust vents. For this we have engineered nrfA gene (codes for nitrite reductase) in E.Coli to convert NOx to NH3 (Clarke et al;2008) and for SOx reduction we will incorporate cysI(sulfite reductase) that converts SO2 to H2S (Growth Yields and Growth Rates of. Desulfovibrio vulgaris (Marburg) growing on Hydrogen plus Sulfate and Hydrogen plus Thiosulfate as the Sole Energy Sources, Arch. Microbiol. 117, 209-214 [1978]) and sqr (sulfide quinone reductase) to convert H2S to S. In order to realize the whole sulfur metabolism pathway, we use several bioinformatics web sites such as KEGG and NCBI. We anticipate that the use of genetically engineered bacterium would subside the efficiency of existing chemical methods.
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