View source for SURF 2015: Design space exploration of the violacein pathway in TX-TL

'''[[SURF 2015|2015 SURF]] project description'''
*Mentor: Richard Murray
*Co-mentor: Shaobin Guo and Yong Wu

[[File:Violacein.jpg|300px|thumb|Figure 1.   Violacein Pathway (Balibar, 2006).]]
===Project Description===
Violacein is a water-insoluble violet pigment that naturally exists in a few bacteria (Jiang, 2010 & Pantanella, 2007). Violacein has the potential applications in antibacterial, anti-trypanocidal, anti-ulcerogenic, and anticancer drugs (Balibar, 2006). The pathway to produce violacein from tryptophan consists of five enzymes vioA-E (Hoshino, 2011).  The pathway is NADPH dependent and consumes oxygen. The various enzymes involved in the pathway could also lead to the production of a few colorful byproducts, which might interfere with fluorescence signals when plate reader is used. The goal of the project is to characterize the violacein pathway using cell-free transcription and translational (TX-TL) system (Sun, 2013). Student will take advantage of the TX-TL system to explore ways to improve violacein production. 

Students interested in this project is required to have some basic microbiology laboratory skills ( Bi 1X, Bi 10, ChE/BE 130, or equivalent). Experience with either MATLAB, Python or a similar scientific programming package is strongly recommended. Other desired qualities include background in organic chemistry (Ch 41abc or equivalent) and experience with analytical techniques or separation methods (Ch 4a, Ch/ChE 9, Ch 24, ChE 62, or equivalent). 

===References: ===

Balibar, C. J. and C. T. Walsh (2006). "[http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/bi061998z In Vitro Biosynthesis of Violacein from l-Tryptophan by the Enzymes VioA−E from Chromobacterium violaceum]." Biochemistry 45(51): 15444-15457. [http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/bi061998z]

Hoshino, T. (2011). "[http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00253-011-3468-z Violacein and related tryptophan metabolites produced by Chromobacterium violaceum: biosynthetic mechanism and pathway for construction of violacein core]." Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 91(6):1463-1475.
	
Jiang, P.-x., et al. (2010). "[http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00253-009-2375-z Reconstruction of the violacein biosynthetic pathway from Duganella sp. B2 in different heterologous hosts]." Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 86(4): 1077-1088.

Pantanella, F., et al. (2007). "[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2006.03155.x/full Violacein and biofilm production in Janthinobacterium lividum]." Journal of Applied Microbiology 102(4): 992-999.

Sun, Z. Z., et al. (2013). "[http://www.jove.com/video/50762/protocols-for-implementing-an-escherichia-coli-based-tx-tl-cell-free Protocols for Implementing an Escherichia coli Based TX-TL Cell-Free Expression System for Synthetic Biology]." (79): e50762.

Sun, Z. Z., et al. (2013). "[http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/sb400131a Linear DNA for Rapid Prototyping of Synthetic Biological Circuits in an Escherichia coli Based TX-TL Cell-Free System]." ACS Synthetic Biology.