Coliroid
From partsregistry.org
We have designed a bacterial system that is switched between different states by red light. The system consists of a synthetic sensor kinase that allows a lawn of bacteria to function as a biological film, such that the projection of a pattern of light on to the bacteria produces a high-definition (about 100 megapixels per square inch), two-dimensional chemical image.
Here are a selection of sample coliroids taken with the bacterial photography system.
 Jeff Tabor holding a coliroid. |
 Hello World coliroid published in Levskaya et al., Nature, 2005. |
 This is a coliroid portait of Andy Ellington. You can compare it with the real Andy. Image courtesy of UT/UCSF. |
 This is a coliroid of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Image courtesy of UT/UCSF. |
This system consists of two devices.
- A light sensor which takes red light as an input and produces PoPS as an output.
- A color generator which takes a PoPS signal as input and generate color as an output.
Diagram courtesy of Drew Endy.
This diagram shows the list of parts that make up each of the two devices.
Diagram courtesy of Drew Endy.
For details on system implementation, see the reference at the bottom of this page.
| -?- | Name | Type | Description | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | W | BBa_B0015 | Terminator | double terminator (B0010-B0012) | 129 |
| 1 | W | BBa_B0034 | RBS | RBS (Elowitz 1999) -- defines RBS efficiency | 12 |
| 1 | BBa_E0033 | Reporter | LacZ alpha fragment; complements matching N-terminal deletion mutant (lacZ-omega) | 353 | |
| 1 | BBa_I15008 | Coding | heme oxygenase (ho1) from Synechocystis | 726 | |
| 1 | BBa_I15009 | Coding | phycocyanobilin:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PcyA) from synechocystis | 750 | |
| A | BBa_I15010 | Coding | cph8 (Cph1/EnvZ fusion) | 2238 | |
| 1 | BBa_K098010 | Generator | HO-pcyA, low expression | 1531 | |
| 1 | BBa_K098011 | Generator | E. coli ompR, expressed at low level | 917 | |
| A | BBa_M30109 | Composite | Light responsive system, dual regulation | 4333 | |
| 1 | BBa_R0082 | Regulatory | Promoter (OmpR, positive) | 108 | |
| System design and implementation by Anselm Levskaya, Aaron Chevalier, Jeff Tabor, Laura Lavery, Matthew Levy, Eric Davidson, Alexander Scouras, Andy Ellington, Ed Marcotte, and Chris Voigt of the 2004 joint University of Texas at Austin and UCSF iGEM team. |
References
- Levskaya A, Chevalier AA, Tabor JJ, Simpson ZB, Lavery LA, Levy M, Davidson EA, Scouras A, Ellington AD, Marcotte EM, and Voigt CA. Synthetic biology: engineering Escherichia coli to see light. Nature 2005 Nov 24; 438(7067) 441-2. doi:10.1038/nature04405 pmid:16306980.
- Tabor JJ, Salis HM, Simpson ZB, Chevalier AA, Levskaya A, Marcotte EM, Voigt CA, and Ellington AD. A synthetic genetic edge detection program. Cell 2009 Jun 26; 137(7) 1272-81. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2009.04.048 pmid:19563759.
- MIT Biological Engineering laboratory module on bacterial photography developed by Natalie Kuldell
- Instructions for how to build a "light cannon" for use in bacterial photography.
