Team:Hong Kong-CUHK/insertion kit

The insertion kit:

Figure 1: The structure of the trans-membrane MamC protein

This construct is actually a simple one, consisting of a mamC gene, a gene coding for a trans-membrane protein (1) (Figure 1) on the magnetosome membrane, in a vector. However, unlike usual recombinant methods in which we put our insert between the multiple restriction sites, we are putting our mamC gene in front of it. Through this method, it enables is to attach any protein we desired on the magnetosome membrane just by fusing it with the mamC gene by inserting it between the multiple restriction sites. (For your interest, this is done by removing the stop codon of the mamC gene and the start codon of the desired protein, for example an antibody, making it a mamC fused protein).

As we are now putting multiple restriction sites behind mamC, therefore we can insert any desire genes afterwards. Thus, we name it our insertion kit.

1.XU, Jun, et al. Surface expression of protein A on magnetosomes and capture of pathogenic bacteria by magnetosome/antibody complexes. Frontiers in microbiology, 2014, 5.

Magnetosome and the insertion kit = multi-application !