This year, SJTU-BioX-Shanghai iGEM team has build a "factory" on E.coli's membrane, where enzyme assemblies can be manipulated so that biochemical reactions can be accelerated and further controlled.

We aimed at constructing a set of protein assemblies on E.coli inner membrane as scaffold carrying various enzymes. Distinct from previous synthetic scaffold system, our device limits the reaction space to a two-dimensional surface. In such system, the membrane functions as an extensive scaffold for proteins to anchor without limitation of scaffold amount. Membrane as scaffold also has privilege in receiving external and internal regulating signals. Based on Membrane Scaffold, we built two universal devices: Membrane Accelerator and Membrane Rudder.

In Membrane Accelerator device, by gathering enzymes on membrane, production of fatty acid was enhanced by more than 24 fold, which has a promising application prospect in biofuel production. We also proposed a new direction for application of scaffold-based accelerator: Biodegradation.

In Membrane Rudder device, we changed the direction of Violacein synthetic pathway through external signal.

2012 Team Wiki：http://2012.igem.org/Team:SJTU-BioX-Shanghai