Team:Freiburg/Lab

Lab Summary


This year our team was working with the model organisms Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. Since E. coli is commonly used in many laboratories, we had no problem handling it. Apparently, there are only a few people who are working with Bacillus subtilis, but we kindly received some help and protocols from former iGEM team Munich 2012 and support from the Bacillus Genetic Stock Center (BGSC) from Ohio who always answered our numerous questions.



We want to use the endospores of Bacillus subtilis as a carrier vessel for a prodrug activating enzyme and a nanobody to improve the targeted drug delivery system. Bacillus subtilis builds these spores under distressed conditions (such as nutrition deficiency). The spores are highly resistant to heat, UV-light and are easy to handle.

We modified the spores in their coat proteins so that they are expressing the fusion proteins, the Glutathione S-Transferase (GST) and nanobody, on their surface. We experimented with modifications on the genes CotZ, CgeA,CotG and CotB, to see where we could achieve the optimal conditions.

Posted by: iGEM Freiburg

Nanocillus - 'cause spore is more!