Melee:mod4 proposal: Difference between revisions
| Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
Proteorhodopsin is a light-activated protein that can produce a H+ gradient across a cell membrane. This gradient could be used as a source of energy. Proteorhodopsin is found in some marine microorganisms, and it has been successfully introduced into ''E. coli''. Jan Liphardt at UC Berkeley observed ''E. coli'' with flagellar motors activated by green light. | Proteorhodopsin is a light-activated protein that can produce a H+ gradient across a cell membrane. This gradient could be used as a source of energy. Proteorhodopsin is found in some marine microorganisms, and it has been successfully introduced into ''E. coli''. Jan Liphardt at UC Berkeley observed ''E. coli'' with flagellar motors activated by green light. | ||
Source: Technology Review [http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/18436/] | Source: Technology Review [http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/18436/] | ||
Original Paper at PubMed [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17372221&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum] | Original Paper at PubMed [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17372221&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum] | ||
Shaner Paper on GFP Variants [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=15558047&query_hl=3&itool=pubmed_docsum] | |||
=== Research Goals === | === Research Goals === | ||
Revision as of 07:32, 3 May 2007
Module 4, Research Proposal
Mike Lee and Mike Oh's research proposal for Module 4 of 20.109 Spring 2007.
Overview
We intend to explore the research done by Prof. Ed DeLong with proteorhodopsin in E. coli. The ultimate aimgoal is to be able to harvest sunlight with proteorhodopsins for solar electrical purposes. We may later decide to focus on only one of the following aspects of our proposal, but there are a couple goals that we find to be essential for accomplishing our final objective. First, we would like to build a library of strains that are activated by different wavelengths of light, much in the way that Shaner, et al created strains of GFP that would fluoresce different colors. This would maximize the amount of sunlight harvested by the proteorhodopsins. The second goal is to create a mechanism that would transform the proton gradient created by the proteorhodopsins into an electrical current that could be hooked into a circuit.
Background
Proteorhodopsin is a light-activated protein that can produce a H+ gradient across a cell membrane. This gradient could be used as a source of energy. Proteorhodopsin is found in some marine microorganisms, and it has been successfully introduced into E. coli. Jan Liphardt at UC Berkeley observed E. coli with flagellar motors activated by green light.
Source: Technology Review [1]
Original Paper at PubMed [2]
Shaner Paper on GFP Variants [3]
Research Goals
We would like to create a more flexible platform using proteorhodopsin where biologists could select a mutant that was sensitive to specific wavelengths of light.
Project Details and Methods
We will use directed evolution to create mutants and select for sensitivity to different wavelengths of light.
