Team:TU-Munich/Project/Overview

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Project Overview

In the 2013 competition the TU Munich iGEM team has developed a transgenic moss filter which is capable to reduct the contamination of aquatic ecosystems with xenobiotics. The topic of remediation using transgenic organisms is present in every year of iGEM and we want to take this idea to the next level. For this reason we decided to use a photoautotrophic chassis, the moss Physcomitrella patens. The following section gives an overview over the theoretical background of our project.

Phytoremediation

Phytoremediation describes the treatment of environmental problems through the use of plants. Here we identified problematic substances and described basic principles.
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Physcomitrella

Next, we introduce Physcomitrella patens as a new chassis to iGEM. We describe advantages, possiblilities and our expression strategy.
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Localization

As the mechanism of the effectors, responsible for the Phytoremediation, are very different, it is necessary to have a protein expression system which is able to accomplish cytosolic, secreted and receptor bound localization of proteins.
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BioDegradation

BioDegradation describes the application of enzymatic catalysis for the degradation of problematic xenobiotics using the enzymes erythromycin esterase, catechol dioxigenase and laccase.
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BioAccumulation

For BioAccumulation we employed different binding proteins which fixate pollutants inside the moss cells. In this context we targeted the substances fluorescein, DDT and microcystin.
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Kill-Switch

In order to restrict the uncontrollable growth of transgenic moss in the environment, we developed a Kill-Switch which is triggered by sunlight. The GM-Moss can only be grown where red-light is filtered out of the electromagnetic spectrum. Read more

Safety

Our safety page describes our team discussions concerning safety issues, especially a safety evaluation of our BioBricks and Physcomitralla patens, including all constructed GM-Moss plants.
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Implementation

The creation of new environmental solutions doesn't stop at the development of GM moss. We tried to find out how a large-scale biofilter could be implemented. Taking account of recent issues such as limited space and missing vegetation in urban areas.
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