Valencia/System for the production of H2

From 2007.igem.org

Introduction

That is my first idea that what could be the organization or the system of our project. I am not to talk about the parts or the biological components, just an approach about the structure of the system. The components could be more or less complicated, must we must know what is going to be their function and how there are going to interact.

Components (Parts)

To start with, I would like to expose the parts of the system.

• Activator: In every system must be a component which start the process. If the Activator isn't in the media the system doesn't work. We want control when there is production of H2, we don't want that the bacterial be all the time producing H2.
• Producer: That part is the kernel of the system. It is the main part. Its functions is to produce the H2. The aim of the other parts is control the producer.
• Terminator: That component stops the process in a determinate moment. Its purpose is to inhibits the production of H2. That inhibition can the produced by a direct actuation on the Producer or perhaps repressing the Activator.
• Reporter: It could be a good idea to include in the system a Reporter which inform us in what process is the system. Perhaps could include a YFP that change the luminosity with the state of the system. The possibles changes of the luminosity could be:
  • Changing the luminosity with the concentration of H2.
  • While there is a production of H2 the bacterial is fluorescence and before the production and when the production is over, the production of YFP stops.
  • Start off, while the production continue off and when the process stop the bacterial glows.

Diagram of the System for the production of H2

Additional Ideas

• The Activator should be an IPTG protein.
• The Terminator could be a producer of LacI which inhibits the IPTG (Activator), so the process stops.

Possible problems

• There is a problem by choosing when the process stops. Must be a quantitative analysis of that.
• Could be a residual luminosity of the bacterial that must be zeroed in posterior analysis.