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Team:Valencia Biocampus/Project
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One of the main characters of our work is a nematode known as <b><i>Caenorhabditis elegans, </i></b>from the Rhabditidae family. It was first used as an | One of the main characters of our work is a nematode known as <b><i>Caenorhabditis elegans, </i></b>from the Rhabditidae family. It was first used as an | ||
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Some advantages of C. elegans when compared with other model organisms are: | Some advantages of C. elegans when compared with other model organisms are: | ||
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| - | </ | + | Lifespan ranges between 2 and 3 weeks, so experimentation times are reduced. |
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| - | </ | + | Its maintenance and study is cheap and simple (it is transparent, which facilitates microscopic observation). |
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| - | </ | + | It is very small (1 mm), so it is possible to carry out experiments with a huge number of worms in a small Petri dish having a great statistical support. |
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<b>Why use C. elegans as a transport?</b> | <b>Why use C. elegans as a transport?</b> | ||
Revision as of 17:00, 2 October 2013
Project Overview
Here goes the project abstract
Escherichia coli
Hola a todos!
Pseudomonas putida
Pronto habrá más cosas!
Caenorhabditis elegans
An overview about our nematode
One of the main characters of our work is a nematode known as Caenorhabditis elegans, from the Rhabditidae family. It was first used as an experimental model in Developmental Genetics studies and nowadays is also used in other fields such as Clinical Biology, Neurobiology and Cell Biology, being a good model to study Alzheimer disease, obesity, diabetes and aging, among others.
Another interesting thing is that it feeds on Escherichia coli. Its “favorite” strain is OP50, although we checked that it’s also able to feed on XL1-Blue strain, the one that we used in all our molecular biology experiments.
Some advantages of C. elegans when compared with other model organisms are:
- Lifespan ranges between 2 and 3 weeks, so experimentation times are reduced.
- Its maintenance and study is cheap and simple (it is transparent, which facilitates microscopic observation).
- It is very small (1 mm), so it is possible to carry out experiments with a huge number of worms in a small Petri dish having a great statistical support.
Why use C. elegans as a transport?
When we were considering on creating a new system for the transport of bacteria, we found different key advantages that made the nematode the best option. For example, C. elegans is able to move very fast around solid substrates (soil is, actually, its natural habitat) and also in agar, so it’s very useful for both lab experiments and real-environment tests.
Its movement, in addition to being very fast, has two modes: random and directed.
When there is no attractant in the medium, C. elegans moves doing uncoordinated movements in several directions in what is known as 'random walk'.
The situation changes when there is an attractant in the medium. Here, our 'transport' begins to direct his movements to the focus of the substance (volatile or soluble) which acts as an attractant in a process known as 'chemotaxis' thanks to the amazing smell of our nematode. This allows us to ‘guide’ the nematodes towards defined spots in irregular substrates.
Chemotaxis is the foundation to guide the transport of bacteria and is therefore the focus of experimentation with C. elegans, withthe aim of finding the best attractant. This ability makes C. elegans a perfect 'bus' for bacteria. (simuelegans online here)
Moreover, we found two pathogens (Yersinia pestis and Xhenorhabus nematophila) with the ability to form biofilms on C. elegans thanks to the proteins of the operon hmsHFRS. When genetically-engineered strains of commonly used bacteria such as Escherichia coli or Pseudomonas putida express this hmsHFRS operon, they have the 'ticket' to travel: they are able to adhere to the worm’s surface by means of forming a synthetic biofilm.
Parts
| Works? | Name | Type | Description | Designer | Length | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
BBa_K1112000 | Regulatory | fadB promoter + flp-21 iRNA | Pedro Luis Dorado Morales | ||
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BBa_K1112001 | Regulatory | pGlnA + hmsHFRS operon | Alba Iglesias Vilches | ||
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BBa_K1112002 | DNA | Cluster PHA | Alba Iglesias Vilches |
