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Team:Wageningen UR/Notebook
From 2013.igem.org
- Safety introduction
- General safety
- Fungi-related safety
- Biosafety Regulation
- Safety Improvement Suggestions
- Safety of the Application
- Lablog
- Experimental protocols
notebook entries
Week 16
September (16.09 - 22.09)
Science Cafe Wageningen
16.09.2013
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Week 15
September (09.09 - 15.09)
Week 14
September (02.09 - 08.09)
Week 13
August (26.08 - 1.09)
work in progress
26.08.2013
Performed some more Gibson assemblies and tried to ligate DH and MT together in the same vector. Made chemically competent cells and the primers for our mini-genes arrived.
Week 12
August (19.08 - 25.08)
iGEM Netherlands
24.08.2013
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Gibson assembly
22.08.2013
The colony PCR’s of DH, MT, ACP and eforRed are successful. Performed another Gibson assembly with KS.
Improving the A. terreus model
12.07.2013
As it turns out, the lovastatin pathway in the published A. terreus model is not balanced and optimization for its production is therefore impossible. This is actually an interesting finding, since it implies that we can now improve the current model by adding the detailed lovastatin biosynthesis pathway that is balanced and allows for optimization of lovastatin production.
Gibson assembly
21.08.2013
Today we did our first Gibson assemblies of DH, MT, ACP, eforRed and ATP. Including transformations.
Working on the Wiki
20.08.2013
The wiki is making good progress, everybody should be able to work with the system now. Objectives are to upload content, look for icons that can be used in the menu bar and to finish the team page
Transformations
19.08.2013
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G-blocks from IDT arrived today
19.08.2013
Today the G-blocks we ordered finally arrived! This is great news, because now we can start on the gibson assembly and transformations.
Week 11
August (12.08 - 18.08)
iGem Olympics: Second round
18.08.2013
We played pool during the second round of the iGem Olympics. Also to celebrate Shreyans Birthday!
A. terreus model
12.07.2013
Recently an A. terreus model has been published. This is quite interesting, since A. terreus is the organisms that naturally produces lovastatin. A quick scan for metabolites shows that both dihydromolacolin L and lovastatin are included in the model. Altough reactions have been lumped, now we can also investigate the potential differences between the lovastatin pathway present and the one we constructed ourselves.
- J. Lui et al., 2013. Genome-scale reconstruction and in silico analysis of Aspergillus terreus metabolism. . Molecular Biosystems, Vol. 9, p. 1939-1948.
Molecular Interactions Symposium Berlin
14.08.2013
We went to the Molecular Interactions symposium in Berlin to present a poster about our project! We were kind of surprised that there were no other iGem teams. The interaction we had with the interested people lead to a couple of nice suggestions to the poster and the project. We even had a good discussion about Gibson Assembly. The interesting speakers there, nice ambience and good dinner in the evenings these 2 days totally made up for the 2 times 7 hours of midnight driving!
Title
00.00.2013
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Week 10
August (05.08 - 11.08)
Vitruvian man stamp
11.08.2013
We looked into using Vitruvian man metal stamps to make imprints in the agar.
pH
10.08.2013
Finally gibson assembly worked for ph-sensor into pJet1.2. Here's a picture showing the digestion analysis using; nsiI and notI; pstI and notI
Workshop by Paulien Poelarends
09.08.2013
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Protoplasts
12.08.2013
During this week we have prepared media and spores to make protoplasts. The protoplasts will be used for transformations. Until recently Novozym has been used to make protoplasts, this is not available anymore and some new protocols have to be used.
Lovastatin
06.08.2013
The restriction enzymes that we ordered last week have arrived. After a few attempts the sequences have been optimized and the G-blocks can be ordered. Also some Lovastatin has been ordered to perform some experiments with A. niger. Lovastatin may be fatal to cell growth of A. niger therefore experiments have to indicate whether A. niger is resistant to Lovastatin. Otherwise A. niger has to be transformed with the resistance gene from A. terreus.
Plasmids extraction with Kit
06.08.2013
Using GeneJET Plasmid Miniprep Kit, we extracted the plasmids containing chromoprotein genes from DH5α E.coli and checked their concentration with Nanodrop 1000.
Expanding the database
05.08.2013
In order to expand the database, more information on secondary metabolite backbone enzymes from Aspergilli needs to be added. Luckily there is a recent publication on secondary metabolites from A. nidulans, A. fumigatus, A. niger and A. oryzae.
- D.O. Inglis et al., 2013. Comprehensive annotation of secondary metabolite biosynthetic genes and gene clusters of Aspergillus nidulans, A. fumigatus, A. niger and A. oryzae. BMC Microbiology, Vol. 13, p. 1-23.
Chemical transformation
05.08.2013
The plasmids containing chromoprotein genes were transformed into DH5α E.coli competent cells and we set up the same background within the DH5α E.coli strains .
Week 9
July (29.07 - 04.08)
iGem BBQ
02.08.2013
We finally had our first group BBQ! Together with all people that are involved with our team! It was a really nice day.
Design the primers for Chromoprotein
02.08.2013
The primers for aeBlue, eforRed, amilGFP and mRFP chromoprotein genes were designed with Clone Manager.
Shopping
30.07.2013
This week we ordered the restriction enzymes for the assembly strategy. Also other stuff should be ordered like pJET, lovastatin, A. niger & A. terrus strain, Gibson assembly kit...
Week 8
July (22.07 - 28.07)
Obtained E.coli expressing chromoproteins from Braunschweig
25.07.2013
We obtained the E.coli from Braunschweig that have plasmids with an chromoprotein encoding gene insert. Lets start introducing it into Aspergillus Niger!
Setting a standard
12.07.2013
Metanetx.org uses its own namespace to standardize the entities that are used within the models, such as metabolites and the reactions. Standardization makes working with different models from different origins much more feasible. However, Metanetx is a project in the making, which means that even though it facilitates the process, manual curation is required.
Metabolic activity: GFP
24.07.2013
In a similar way that the DAPI stained cells give an indication of metabolic activity by showing an increase in nuclei, GFP-transformed A. niger also give an indication of metabolic activity by giving an indication on whether transcription and translation occur.
Splitting up the domains
22.07.2013
Luckily, we got some help from Kal, a really nice guy who offered a lot of help. Several very useful websites he suggested could analyse the AA sequence and give some advice on where is the possible site to split the whole protein. We combined the analysis result with references, we finally got a clear idea (or at least we believe) about the boundary of the domains.
Week 7
July (15.07 - 21.07)
Working on the Wiki
20.07.2013
The design of the wiki is making good progress. Basic layout has been determined and we created icon to indicate different parts of the project.
Article searching
18.07.2013
Totally lost in how to divide each single domain in the lovB gene. By searching the articles, we could find information and experimental details about ACP, KS, MAT and CON domain. While for the others, still virgin land. KR seems to have two subdomains, what the hell~
Database design
16.07.2013
text here
Week 6
July (08.07 - 14.07)
Lovastatin strategy
12.07.2013
Now that we have the general idea the details need to be worked out. Therefore we came up with a strategy to assemble the modules using compatible restriction enzymes. The strategy will enable us to assemble several modules and to have a stop codon at the end of the assembled gene without a frame shift. Also the general planning of the project was worked out this week.
Expanding the scope
12.07.2013
To expand the scope of the modeling and create a larger overlap with the secondary metabolite backbone enzyme database we have chosen to expand the number of models. A. oryzae and A. nidulans have been added to the scope of this project. Expansion of the modeling with these three additional Aspergilli allows for a comparative approach in which results can be compared.
DAPI staining
11.07.2013
It has been found that dormant conidia are predominantly bi-nucleate (85%), the remainder being uni-nucleate. Therefore, if one stains the giant cells with DAPI, which colours the nuclei, one can assess whether the nuclei within the cells are actively dividing. This appears to be the the case and thus indicates that the cells are not in a vegetative state.
Week 5
July (01.07 - 07.07)
Science Café
02.07.2013
We met with the Science Café organisation to discuss the possibilities towards our team organising an evening there with a Biohacker theme.
BioKe meeting in Wageningen
05.07.2013
A BioKe spokesperson came over to Wageningen. We gave her a tour and presentation. We obtained the Q5 PCR kit!
Lovastatin
05.07.2013
Finally the search has begun, this week we have started with literature research for the Lovastatin project. Some topics were for example what is Lovastatin, which genes are involved in Lovastatin production in Aspergillus terreus, and how to measure Lovastatin production. The first idea was to introduce the Lovastatin pathway of A. terreus into A.niger. During the research we found that one of the bigger genes involved is composed of several domains. Our new idea now is to synthesize these domains, making several modules that we can assemble as we wish.
Database planning
01.07.2013
text here
- D.O. Inglis et al., 2013 Comprehensive annotation of secondary metabolite biosynthetic genes and gene clusters of Aspergillus nidulans, A. fumigatus, A. niger and A. oryzae. BMC Microbiology Vol. 13 p. 1-23
- J.F. Sanchez et al., 2012. Advances in Aspergillus secondary metabolite research in the post-genomic era. Nat. Prod. Rep. Vol. 29, p. 351-371
Primers for septa visualizition arrived
2.07.2013
After some waiting time the primers needed for the visualization of the septa using a proton-ATPase finally arrived and this part of the project could also get started by isolating the gene from genomic A. niger DNA.
Sequensing results arrived
10.07.2013
The sequencing results from the actin gene arrived and everything looked fine. We had the right gene without mistakes and could go on with the actin cytoskeleton project.
Actin gene in house internal brick system
24.07.2013
The actin gene for cytoskeleton visualization purposes was ligated into a house internal brick system with a n-terminal GFP fusion. This construct was then introduced into E. coli for amplification purposes.
Week 4
June (24.06 - 30.06)
Lovastatin Pathway
19.08.2013
The lovastatin pathway has been added to the metabolic model of Aspergillus niger. Because the medium composition of the model is not yet properly defined, the maximum flux towards lovastatin can be achieved. This however is not realistic and therefore the next thing is to redefined the medium composition.
- B.D. Ames et al., 2011. Crystal structure and biochemical studies of the trans-acting polyketide enoyl reductase LovC from lovastatin biosynthesis. PNAS, doi/10.1073/pnas.1113029109
Calcofluor staining
24.08.2013
text here
Week 3
June (17.06 - 23.06)
Do It Yourself Biohacker Meeting 2
20.06.2013
We had a DIY Biohacker Meeting in the Waag, Amsterdam. The Waag had its grand opening and there was a exposition and party afterwards
Do It Yourself Biohacker Meeting 1
18.06.2013
We had a DIY Biohacker Meeting in the Waag, Amsterdam. Learned how to make your own potato-agar
Finding the right conditions for distinct phenotypes
22.06.2013
As described in literature, N593 formed giant cells after 24h at 44C. Since transcriptome data on N400 from multiple stages in its life cycle is available, this strain is chosen such that this research complements the current RNA landscape profile of A. niger and allows for comparison of data from different life stages. However, unlike N400, N593 repeatedly formed mycelium at 44C. To overcome this effect the temperature was increased to 45C, at which a single cell phenotype was obtained for N593.
Week 2
June (10.06 - 16.06)
Funny group picture
15.06.2013
Opportunity was presented to take a few fun group pictures... we obviously took it
Dinner and discussion
14.06.2013
We met at Mark’s place for dinner and evaluation of possibilities in using secondary metabolites for our project
Last and 8th recruit
13.06.2013
Yeng Ding AKA Danny joind our team. We are now 8 members strong!
ThinkerCell & CloneManager meeting
12.06.2013
The ones from our team who had learned to work with these software tools, during one of the iGem Netherlands courses, taught the others how use it.
Lab supplies
11.06.2013
We ordered reagents for cloning and PCR.
Collaboration
11.06.2013
We contacted the Cornell University iGem 2013 team to talk about possibilities for collaboration. They also work with fungus.
Host Engineering: Research plan
13.06.2013
Different environmental conditions induce changes in phenotypic cellularity of Aspergillus niger. Mapping reads onto the reference genome allows for discovery of patterns in gene expression that are unique to the single cell phenotype.
Week 1
June (03.06 - 09.06)
Actin primers arrived
26.06.2013
Finally the improved pair of actin primers arrived and after not getting good PCR results for some time I could finally get started and optimize PCR conditions for gene amplification of the actin gene.
House internal brick system
25.06.2013
The house internal brick system with a n-terminal GFP fusion was proven to be ok by restriction digestion and was ready to be worked with.
Host Engineering: Research Question
04.06.2013
Research question:
Finding sets of candidate genes causative to the single cell phenotype in Aspergillus niger by transcriptome analysis.
Subquestions:
- is A. niger metabolically active at 44C?
- does A. niger divide at 44C?
May
Metabolic model A. niger
30.07.2013
The current metabolic model of A. niger needs to be expanded to include the lovastatin pathway as known from literature. First the model has to be checked: is it balanced? can we perform a FBA on the current model?
- M.R. Anderson et al., 2008. Metabolic model integration of the bibliome, genome, metabolome and reactome of Aspergillus niger. Molecular Systems Biology, Vol. 4, Article number 178; doi:10.1038/msb.2008.12
Meeting room
26.05.2013
We reserved a room for all future Monday and Thursday lunch meetings in the Forum
Visualization of the actin cytoskeleton
27.05.2013
Finally the labwork for the visualization of the septa and actin cytoskeleton started. And the first thing to do was order primers and isolate genomic DNA from A. niger.
Meeting iGem Uppsala
18.05.2013
We met with the iGem Uppsala 2013 team in Uppsala
Created a Gmail account
23.05.2013
We created a Gmail account. Let the spam begin
Created a Twitter account
15.05.2013
We created a Twitter account. Hello world! Meet iGem Wageningen 2013
Chromoprotein sequencing
13.05.2013
Looked into sequencing options: codon optimization to Aspergillus Niger, suffix/prefix, (illegal) restrictionsites. Let’s order some g-blocks!
Lab space
08.05.2013
We arranged our very own lab space!
Host Engineering: why?
20.08.2013
The single-cell phenotype Aspergillus has a higher surface to volume ratio and results in a lower viscosity of the liquid broth, offering perspective on substantially increasing process yields when used in liquid fermentations. Besides from an industrial point of view it is also interesting from an evolutionary perspective, which couples application-oriented research using a directed evolution approach to a more fundamental research topic: the evolution of multicellularity.
April
Good Lab Practice
24.4.2013
We had a lecture on good lab practice and safety in the lab
Task division
18.04.2013
Co-ordinator – Michiel
Secretary – Emiel
Sponsoring - Emiel
Safety - Jingjing
Lab manager – Shreyans
Strategy - Marit
Wiki – Michiel
Human Practice - Marjan
Influence of temperature on germination
20.08.2013
A paper from 1970 shows that at 44C Aspergillus niger does not germinate, but rather forms giant cells. This dimorphism is not unfamiliar within the fungal world, where at lower temperatures the mycelium is formed and at higher temperatures the yeast-like form is found.
Anderson, J. G. and J. E. Smith (1972). "Effects of Elevated-Temperatures on Spore Swelling and Germination in Aspergillus Niger." Canadian Journal of Microbiology 18(3): 289-297.
March
February
January
Title
00.00.2013
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