Friday 16 January 2009
a SynBioStandards Network event
Workshop
School of Computing Science University of Newcastle
Rapporteur: Emma Frow
The SynBioStandards Network held a working group meeting in Newcastle to share research and experience regarding use of the Gram-positive soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis in synthetic biology projects. Bacillus subtilis is considered a genetically tractable model organism, with (potentially useful) properties including motility, sporulation, and protein secretion capacity. The MIT Registry contains a brief overview of the advantages and disadvantages of using Bacillus in biological engineering projects (see link on right).
The UK seems well-placed to lead research and discussions on Bacillus — all of the 2008 iGEM projects featuring Bacillus were UK-based, and Newcastle is a global leader in Bacillus biology. Several senior Bacillus researchers from Newcastle participated in the meeting, and we thank them for their valuable contributions.
After a series of short presentations to bring everyone up to speed regarding Bacillus research and synthetic biology efforts at Newcastle, Imperial, Edinburgh and Cambridge, the discussion turned to how the group might capture the expertise in the room in order to develop standardized protocols and one or more Requests For Comments (RFCs). Among other issues, discussions focused on the properties of different Bacillus strains, DNA integration in Bacillus, and the development of one or more computationally accessible repositories of 'Bacillo-Bricks' (compatible with the MIT Registry).
Possible RFCs to emerge from the meeting include (1) an RFC detailing minimal information about a Bacillus chassis (with possible application / extension to other model organisms), (2) an RFC detailing properties of vectors for Bacillus, and (3) an RFC describing promoter characterisation for Bacillus, with suggestion of a standard reference promoter.
More detailed notes and draft RFCs are available on the Network wiki (see link on right).
Network members in attendance at the meeting were Geoff Baldwin, James Brown, Jane Calvert, Vincent Danos, Paul Freemont, Chris French, Emma Frow, Jen Hallinan, Vincent Rouilly, Neil Wipat.
Organised by Anil Wipat and Jennifer Hallinan.
Anil Wipat 0191 222 8213, anil.wipat@ncl.ac.uk
Jennifer Hallinan, j.s.hallinan@ncl.ac.uk
