Team:Cornell/project/wetlab/fungal toolkit

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Cornell University Genetically Engineered Machines

Fungal Toolkit

Scroll over each icon to find out more about the functional requirements for our device!
Continuous
Pollution events can be hard to spot, making discrete testing inadequate as well as expensive. Monitoring water quality is a 24 hour job.
Field Deployable
Industrial water monitoring is needed in remote and rugged terrain. In order to be applicable in these terrains, our device should be durable, water-proof. Being out in the field also means all food for bacteria and power for electronics must be provided by the device itself.
Remote
To collect data in isolated locations, wireless communication is essential. This requires digital conversion of signals from our bacteria, so that it can be transmitted to the user and accessed online.
Electrical Output
Our device needs to output signal that is practical and intuitive. Electrical signal is easy to sense, process, and convert to digital signal.
Long Term
To monitor water quality in a truly continuous fashion, our device must be able to sustain itself without maintenance for long periods of time. Frequent maintenance is impractical.
Safe
Releasing modified organisms into the environment is a threat to both human health and biodiversity. To be field-deployable, our device must integrate multiple safeguards against escape and gene transfer.

Protoplasting

Background
Transformation of plant and fungal cells is difficult due to their cell walls that blocks passage of foreign DNA. Protoplasting is the method by which the cells walls of plant and fungal cells are digested to produce cells without cell walls, called protoplasts. Through additional methods, such as electroporation, and PEG transformation, DNA can be uptaken by the protoplasts and then regrown into cells containing specific genes.
Method
Protoplasting was first attempted on Ganoderma lucidum. Usually this species is protoplasted using lywallzyme and novozyme. However, these enzymes are exclusievly available in China and thus protplasting was attempted with driselease and glucanex. After several attempts it was concluded that the enzymes were unable to digest the cell wall without also killing the cell. In addition, the Ganoderma mycelium was hard to pellet when centrifuging and made the protoplasting procedure difficult. Thus, Cochliobolus heterostrophus was used instead. Protoplasting was sucessful using driselease and glucanex and then transformed via PEG solution.

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