Team:Cornell/Description
Project Description
In 2015, Cornell iGEM will use synthetic biology to combat bacterial cold-water disease (BCWD). BCWD is a potentially lethal bacterial infection of salmonid fish species, including salmon and trout. The disease is caused by the pathogen Flavobacterium psychrophilum, and is commonly found on fish farms and hatcheries where fish are raised in close quarters. Outbreaks of BCWD are observed globally and can result in harsh economic effects on commercial salmonid producers and fisheries as well as wild populations of salmonids. There currently does not exist an industrial solution to combatting such a disease. Antibiotics are being used to treat BCWD, but these antibiotics remain in the food we consume, leach into the ocean or soil surrounding farms, and give bacteria the opportunity to develop antibiotic resistance.
Fortunately, recent studies have shown that probiotics pose a promising solution to BCWD. A 2015 study showed that feeding fish a strain of Enterobacter C6-6 allows fish to overcome bacterial infections. This strain of probiotic produces a small peptide known as entericidin that is toxic to the growth of F. psychrophilum, thereby providing a treatment to BCWD. Hundreds of bacterial entericidin phenotypes exist naturally. This year, Cornell iGEM plans to engineer E. coli for the overexpression and production of these different entericidin phenotypes for activity against F. psychrophilum. In doing so, we will develop the most effective probiotic treatment for BCWD and advance the study of therapeutic probiotic treatments in combatting similar fish diseases.