Circuit containing hydrolases

Mine Cells

The Mine Cells lead to the synthesis the signalling molecule, by constitutive expression of luxI gene. To reveal the nature of the cells, a coloured-substrate reaction is triggered upon addition of 5-Bromo-4-chloro-3-indoxyl-N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminide; given that the glycoside hydrolase NagZ is expressed constitutively.

The ODEs for the states involved in the sender module are given below:

Figure 3: Differential equations of the mine cells

Receiver Cells

Our Receiver cells are engineered to respond differently to high and medium concentrations of AHL. In principle, cells should be capable of discriminate between the presence of 1 or 2 mine cells around them, in the immediate vicinity.

Figure 4: Differential equations of the receiver cells

To distinguish between AHL-levels, the expression of the hydrolases is controlled by PLuxR promoters mutants, which are sensitive to different concentration of the dimer LuxR-AHL (denoted as R) given by the number of surrounding mines.