The main focus of the project is generate electric energy
through degradation of fatty acid present in waste frying oil,
which are widely used and discarded by restaurants, when
these oils are disposed improperly they present as a pollutant to
the environment, so the treatment to eliminate these pollutants
requires the use of toxic chemicals products, besides that the
process is costly and inefficient. There are alternatives to the use
of frying oils as the production of soap, but the directing of fats for
energy generation will bring a new option for bioenergy through
bioremediation.
The bacteria Shewanella putrefaciens that we pretend to
use is capable to do electron`s transport disposed in the media,
generating electricity. The proposal is to improve it genetically to
degrade these oils through β-oxidation (biochemical reaction that
break of fatty acids), increasing the production of electrons. The
genus Shewanella is a group of bacteria recently discovered and
the studies on them are scarce, especially in the area of molecular
biology, but have the potencial not only for energy generation
possibility but also for the ability of capture metals arranged in the
ambient.
Among the possibilities to modify it, we chose two ways:
knockout the repressor (FadR) of beta oxidation pathway and
overexpression two important proteins (FadD and FadL) to
beta oxidation pathway.The effects of these modification gene
should be studied to not generate a stress condition. With this
environmental and ecological project design, we are excited,
determined to participate in iGEM and be the first team to
represent the state of Amazonas.
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