Team:Dundee/Project/PP1Capacities

Introduction

Microcystin’s toxic action lies in its ability to bind to the human Protein Phosphatase 1 (PP1). Microcystin covalently binds to PP1 in a one-to-one manner. Therefore higher binding potentials are achieved through having larger amounts of PP1 in the bacterial chassis (E. coli and B. subtilsi).

The two options explored for our mop bacteria were to export PP1 to the periplasm of E. coli and onto the membrane surface of B. subtilis. We investigate the PP1 capacity of both chassis options using geometrical packing. This then allows us to determine which chassis has a higher microcystin binding potential.