Conjugation

We have attempted to conjugate GFP into both G. oxydans and G. hansenii with a Diaminopimelic Acid (DAP) auxotrophic strain of E. coli . The plasmid contains the vector pMMB67EH, the promoter PA-1, GFP and a spectinomycin resistance gene.

The first conjugation was done with KOM strains 4 (G. oxydans) 5 ( G. oxydans and 15 ( L. fermentati ). We attempted these conjugations before sequencing the recipient strains, so that is why we tried to conjugate into L. fermentati . First, a mixture between a KOM strain and the DAP auxotroph strain were plated on a LB+DAP solid medium to allow for conjugation to occur. After 24 hours of incubation, we scraped up the growth and plated each conjugation mixture onto a LB+Spec plate.

LB+SPEC plates that contain conjugation mixtures of KOM 4, 5 and 15 ( L. fermentati )

Next, we viewed the potential transconjugants on a fluorescence microscope.

Using a fluorescent microscope, this was a picture taken of the G. oxydans strain, KOM 4, without the plasmid that contains GFP.

Using a fluorescent microscope, this was a picture taken of the potential transconjugant, KOM 4, with the plasmid GFP. 16s sequencing was still needed to confirm successful conjugation.

We then picked these glowing colonies and then after streaking them out onto more LB+Spec plates, we attempted to use 16s sequencing to confirm successful conjugation. After troubleshooting our 16s procedure, we were finally able to obtain a viable sequencing result. However, all of the glowing colonies were identified as E. coli. For the next round of conjugation, we used a strain of both G. oxydans and Gluconacetobacter hansenii from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC).

This is a LB+DAP plate on a dark reader that has four different conjugations occurring at one time. The two left quadrants have the same ATCC strain of G. oxydans,, while the two quadrants on the right have Ga. hansenii.

These growths were then scraped up and plated onto a LB+Spec plate.

These are my potential transconjugants on a LB+DAP plates. The dark reader was used when taking this picture. The top two are G. oxydans while the bottom two are G. hansenii.

We then picked isolated colonies and streaked them out onto LB+DAP plates. After using 16s sequencing on the potential transconjugants, we encountered an anomaly. Instead of amplifying the 16s gene, we recieved the sequence of the L,D Transpeptidase gene of E. coli . We plan on repeating the 16s procedure.

Ethanol Reduction

Identifying genes of interest

Table 1: Results of BLAST search comparing the amino acid sequence for PQQ-ADH in C. testosteroni against similar amino acid sequences in Komagataeibacter xylinus (identical to Ga. hansenii). Line 3 is a close match, and the accession number matches one of the ADH genes found in K. xylinus.

Table 2: Description of oligonucleotides ordered from IDT and their purposes. All of these are PCR primers except for igem2016_KOM_EtOH_07, which is a gBlock containing the end of the PQQ-ADH with a Golden Gate type 3 suffix appended.

In order to design a construct increasing expression of PQQ-ADH and ALDH in Ga. hansenii, it was necessary to find the genome of the ATCC strain and identify the coding sequences for these genes. The whole genome shotgun sequence for our organism, ATCC 53582, is published on NCBI by J. Abbot (2015) with annotations regarding the functions of specific sequences. Coding sequences are annotated with proposed gene products. Though there are several aldehyde dehydrogenase genes annotated in the genome, there is only one which is described as membrane-bound, matching the description from Mamlouk and Gullo (2013). There are additionally multiple alcohol dehydrogenases. A known amino acid sequence for a homologous PQQ-ADH in ,i.Comamonas testosteroni was compared against sequences in the Ga. hansenii genome using BLAST (Table 1). One ADH enzyme found in the Ga. hansenii genome sequence matches the C. testosteroni sequence with a query cover value of 94% and an E value of 0 (third line of Table 1).

Creation of Golden Gate parts

Figure 1: Linear map of the coding sequence for membrane-bound ALDH with a Golden Gate type 3 prefix and suffix. BsmBI and BsaI sites are indicated. The restriction sites at either end are included in the prefix and suffix, but the internal BsaI site must be removed to create a functioning Golden Gate part.

Figure 2: Linear map of the coding sequence for PQQ-ADH with a Golden Gate type 3 prefix and suffix. EcoRI, BsmBI, and BsaI sites are indicated. The centermost BsmBI restriction site is in the coding sequence and must be removed to create a functional Golden Gate part. EcoRI is not used in Golden Gate assembly, so those sites do not necessarily need to be removed.

In order to assemble the construct, the coding sequences for the genes of interest must be amplified from the Ga. hansenii genome and edited such that they have the correct Golden Gate overhangs and no internal BsaI or BsmBI restriction sites. The sequences were uploaded to Benchling for analysis and planning. The coding sequence for the membrane-bound ALDH contains a BsaI restriction site near the middle of the gene (Figure 1), and the PQQ-ADH coding sequence contains a BsmBI restriction site near the end of the gene (Figure 2). To eliminate the BsaI site in ALDH, primers were designed that would introduce a point mutation at the restriction site. One set of primers, igem2016_KOM_EtOH_01 and igem2016_KOM_EtOH_02, amplifies the sequence upstream of the restriction site, adding a type 3 Golden Gate prefix and removing the restriction site. Another set, igem2016_KOM_EtOH_03 and igem2016_KOM_EtOH_04, amplifies the region downstream of the restriction site, introducing a mutation to the site and adding a type 3 Golden Gate suffix to the end of the gene. These two products will be used in an overlap PCR reaction to create a final product with no BsaI restriction sites and the correct prefix and suffix for assembly. To remove the BsmBI site from the PQQ-ADH coding sequence, a set of primers (igem2016_KOM_EtOH_05 and igem2016_KOM_EtOH_06) was designed to amplify the region upstream of the restriction site and add a Golden Gate type 3 prefix to the beginning of the sequence. The reverse primer additionally adds a mutation to existing BsmBI restriction site and creates a new BsmBI restriction site that will be used to join the piece to a double-stranded DNA, igem2016_KOM_EtOH_07, containing the rest of the gene’s coding sequence appended with a Golden Gate type 3 suffix. The assembly of the PQQ-ADH part will therefore take place in two reactions: one reaction in which the upstream piece of DNA is created, and one reaction in which it is ligated to the gBlock. Table 2 contains more information about each of these oligonucleotides. All were ordered from IDT.

Figure 3: YPD plates made with pH indicator bromothymol blue. Colonies are various strains of Lachancea fermentati isolated from kombucha in our lab. Carbon dioxide and ethanol form as products of fermentation. The carbon dioxide reacts with water to form carbonic acid, lowering the pH of the plate and changing the color of the pH indicator. More dramatic color changes should correlate to greater ethanol production, but this assay is limited in that a variety of metabolites unrelated to ethanol production could influence pH.

Kombucha Strains

The first steps in the characterization of microbes native to kombucha involved the isolation of strains from store-bought kombucha samples. This was accomplished by plating various dilutions of kombucha onto a variety of media including YPD, HS, and R2A.

Isolated colonies were selected from each "isolation plate" and continually grown up and streaked out to ensure that the resulting frozen stock was truly axenic. Each newly isolated microbe was designated with a "KOM #" based on the order in which it was isolated (i.e. KOM 01, KOM 02, etc.) to serve as a placeholder name until the species could be identified. In order to begin this identification process, genomic DNA (gDNA) was first isolated from each individual strain. This DNA was then used as the template for two separate PCR reactions targeting either the 16S rRNA gene in bacteria, or the ITS rRNA gene for fungi. PCR products were then run on a 1% agarose gel to observe which reaction yielded product in gel.

Once it was determined whether each isolate was a bacterium or a fungus, the PCR products were purified and samples of the gDNA was sequenced using Sanger sequencing. The resulting sequences were then ran through the Ribosomal Database Project (RDP) SeqMatch tool in order to identify the exact species of bacteria or yeast that correspond to each tested isolate. The identified microbes are listed below in Table 1.

(*Indicates a species that is considered vital to the production of kombucha)

Recapitulation

pH Sensors

Possessing the ability to monitor the brewing process of kombucha without disturbing the microenvironment and using a very visible color reporter would allow for greater insights as to how the populations of organisms and pH may change due to competition amongst other bacteria and yeast in the beverage and SCOBY of the kombucha. The byproducts produced by the kombucha as it brews causes the tea to become more acidic, leading to our team searching for pH sensitive promoters, and for ways to implement these into kombucha.

Though an acidic sensor was what was required for our kombucha analysis, the identification of sensors in other areas of the pH spectrum were explored as well. Three sequences were identified, the CadC operon for the acidic range, CpxA-CpxR complex for the neutral range, and the P-atp2 promoter from the BioBrick Registry (BBa_K1675021) for the basic range. Each sequence was paired with a unique corresponding reporter sequence so that if each pH sensitive plasmid were in the same environment, the specific pH of the system could be seen. The reporters used were, BBa_E1010 for the CadC construct, BBa_K1033916 for the CpxA-CpxR complex, and BBa_K592009 for the P-atp2 promoter.

CadC

The CadC operon is a native pathway in E. coli, involved in the cadaverine synthesis pathway. The protein CadC protein on the operon is produced and activates segments downstream of the operon on the CadBA receptors. The CadC protein is pH sensitive to an external pH 5.5 and below, as well as lysine dependent. A point mutation on codon 265, in which argenine is converted to cystine, causes the CadC protein to become lysine independent.¹

Unfortunately, we have been unable to grow the modified CadC operon in E. coli suggesting some form of cell toxicity. Due to this apparent toxicity, no data regarding this mutant CadC could be collected. Alternative candidates are being explored for other pH sensors that sense in the acidic range.

CpxA-CpxR

CpxA-CpxR is a two-component mechanism that is activated at pH 7.4 and repressed at pH 6.0. CpxA is an intermembrane protein that autophosphorylates at a certain external pH, CpxR (a kinase) then gets phosphorylated by CpxA and acts as a transcription factor. This system originally is a transcription factor for the virF gene, but virF was replaced with a reporter. The original sequence was found in Shigella sonnei, but E. coli has a homolog of these proteins so all that is required on the construct is the appropriate prefix/suffix and CpxR binding site.

Figure 1. Testing the CpxR Construct in pH 6-9. From left to right is Control pH 6-9 and then Experimental pH 6-9. These are showing the gradient change in expression accordingly with the change of pH due to a pH-dependent promotor compared to consistent expression accordingly with a promoter that is always "on".

The order from left to right in figure 1 is control pH 6-9 and then Experimental pH 6-9. These are showing the gradient change in expression accordingly with the change of pH due to a pH-dependent promotor compared to consistent expression accordingly with a promoter that is always "on". The main point is that the Control at pH 6 has more expression of the yellow-green chromoprotein than the Experimental at pH 6. The pH-Dependent promoter of the Experimental group is down-regulated at pH 6 whereas the control is not. Also, there is an increase in YGCP expression between the Experiment pH 7 and pH 8 that is not seen in the Control between pH 7 and pH 8. The normalized data in figure 2 shows the relative expression of YGCP. The construct can be found on the iGEM registry as: BBa_K2097000.

Figure 2. Normalized fluorescent values from CpxR construct vs control (YGCP). The fluorescence per cell count stayed generally the same throughout the range of pH while the CpxR has a clear increase in fluorescence per cell.

Figure 1. amajLime expressed in E. coli in liquid LB

P-atp2

The P-atp2 promoter, native to the bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum is reportedly induced at pH 7, to pH 9 (BIT-China-2015 and BBa_K1675021). Utilizing the blue chromoprotein (BBa_K592009), a test was designed in which a plasmid containing the P-atp2 promoter with the blue chromoprotein was grown alongside an E. coli line that contained a plasmid with just the blue chromoprotein. We expected to see constant blue chromoprotein production in the control series (those that lacked P-atp2) and a visual increase in blue chromoprotein as the pH was raised from 6 to 9 in the cells that contained the P-atp2 construct.

However, as seen in figure 3, no clear change in color expression appears in the experimental trials, suggesting a lack of sensitivity of the P-atp2 promoter.

Figure 3. Spun down P-atp2 constructs compared to controls in pH6-9. There is no clear gradient change in color expression.

Figure 2. amilCP expressed in E. coli and in liquid LB

GOX Sequences as Putative Promoters

Three endogenous upstream regions of loci that were reported to show increased mRNA synthesis as pH decreased were obtained. Using Golden Gate assembly, these putative promoters will be placed on a plasmid with a specific reporter sequence.1 By placing these pH-sensitive promoters with different reporters and transforming into multiple organisms, the visualization of the microbes and their location in kombucha would be possible. This would serve as a stepping stone into the transformation of multiple kombucha organisms with these different reporter constructs, meaning organism concentration at a specific time during the brewing process could be visualized.

References

1. CL, Dell., MN, Neely., and ER, Olson. (1994) Altered pH and lysine signalling mutants of cadC, a gene encoding a membrane-bound transcriptional activator of the Escherichia coli cadBA operon. Molecular Microbiology 14, 7–16.
2. Hanke, T., Richhardt, J., Polen, T., Sahm, H., Bringer, S., and Bott, M. (2012) Influence of oxygen limitation, absence of the cytochrome bc1 complex and low pH on global gene expression in Gluconobacter oxydans 621H using DNA microarray technology. Journal of Biotechnology 157, 359–372.