Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference

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Construction of a LuxAB Promoter Probe to Assess Light:Dark Responsive Promoters in Synechocystis sp. PCC6803

Undergraduate #93
Discipline: Biological Sciences
Subcategory: Genetics

Katelyn Oliver - Colorado State University
Co-Author(s): Allison Zimont and Christie Peebles, CSU, Fort Collins, CO


Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic bacteria which harness sunlight and atmospheric CO2 to grow. This property makes them a promising candidate for the production of renewable energy in the form of biofuels. It is becoming more important to expand the molecular toolbox for cyanobacteria to aid in the creation of economically viable fuels. Our lab aims to construct plasmids for the use in cyanobacteria to develop enhanced gene expression control, to ultimately increase bio-fuel production. As a proof of concept, we utilized our knowledge of promoter probes to modify the plasmid pAM1580 to enable the study of the light/dark cycles of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. We chose the plasmid pAM1580 to modify due to it containing the LuxAB gene and working well in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Molecular cloning and site directed mutagenesis was used to insert three promoters shown to be active during either the light cycle or dark cycle. This presentation will focus on our research efforts to date.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): National Science Foundation grant number #1332404

Faculty Advisor: Christie Peebles,

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. DUE-1930047. Any opinions, findings, interpretations, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of its authors and do not represent the views of the AAAS Board of Directors, the Council of AAAS, AAAS’ membership or the National Science Foundation.