Most of the world relies on the use of fossil fuels to meet the daily demands in power sources. As the demand for energy is increasing in recent years, it is necessary that the solution provides an avenue that has minimal to no yield of greenhouse gases and does not negatively affect the Earth’s atmosphere. Genetically engineered (GE) cyanobacteria are showing potential to be used for the production of biofuels when altered to produce alcohol as a product of their metabolic processes, and thus be considered as a solution to this problem. However, before any applications of GE cyanobacteria as biofuels can take place, their safety for the environment must be tested and verified so that the potential risk of exchanging genetic material with other microorganisms in the environments can be assessed. While it has been well known that E. coli can transfer gene horizontally to cyanobacteria, our previous study had showed that GE T. elongatus could transfer antibiotic resistant gene to wild-type E. coli DH5α. In the present study, we aim to investigate whether GE T. elongatus can still transfer genes horizontally to wild-type E. coli with two additional heterologous genes for biofuel production. It is expected that horizontal gene transfer will occur after co-cultures are set up and incubated. Confirmation of gene transfer will be measured with PCR analysis and gel electrophoresis.

Assessment of gene transfer between genetically engineered cyanobacteria used in biofuel production and wild-type E. coli

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.