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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

eight-member plasmid library, promotor swapping, chromosomal gene expression, E. coli

College

Life Sciences

Department

Microbiology and Molecular Biology

Abstract

The ability to control gene expression in bacteria has been essential in solving problems in many fields, including medicine and environmental protection. Recent advances in genomic and metabolic modeling tools have led to the development of a new technique called promoter swapping which enables researchers to “swap” any native gene promoter with one that has been specifically engineered. Promoter swapping uses viral recombination proteins to swap DNA in the chromosome rather than in plasmids, allowing for constant and permanent expression levels. Our goal was to create eight template plasmids with promoters of increasing strengths to be used in promoter swapping. During the project, we made two plasmids with distinct promoters, verified their sequences, and successfully swapped one of them with the β-galactosidase promoter of E. coli. Thus, we created the first of eight template plasmids to be used in promoter swapping. Future researchers of this project will hopefully create the remaining seven plasmids by adjusting the sequence of the plasmid.

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Microbiology Commons

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