Unigems: plasmids and parts to facilitate teaching on assembly, gene expression control and logic in E. coli: This article is part of the Pedagogy collection.

Alex Siddall; Abbie Ann Williams; Jason Sanders; Jai A. Denton; Dean Madden; John Schollar; Jarosław Bryk

doi:10.1099/acmi.0.000596.v3

Volume 5, Issue 9

Pedagogy

Open Access

Unigems: plasmids and parts to facilitate teaching on assembly, gene expression control and logic in E. coli

This article is part of the Pedagogy collection.

Alex Siddall^1,2,3, Abbie Ann Williams¹, Jason Sanders⁴, Jai A. Denton^3,5, Dean Madden⁶, John Schollar⁶ and Jarosław Bryk^1,6
View Affiliations Hide Affiliations

Affiliations: ¹ School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK ² School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK ³ Genomics and Regulatory Systems Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan ⁴ School of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK ⁵ Institute of Vector-borne Disease, Monash University, Clayton, Australia ⁶ National Centre for Biotechnology Education, University of Reading, Reading, UK
*Correspondence: Jarosław Bryk, [email protected]
Published: 06 September 2023 https://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.0.000596.v3

Abstract

Synthetic biology enables the creative combination of engineering and molecular biology for exploration of fundamental aspects of biological phenomena. However, there are limited resources available for such applications in the educational context, where straightforward setup, easily measurable phenotypes and extensibility are of particular importance. We developed unigems, a set of ten plasmids that enable classroom-based investigation of gene-expression control and biological logic gates to facilitate teaching synthetic biology and genetic engineering. It is built on a high-copy plasmid backbone and is easily extensible thanks to a common primer set that facilitates Gibson assembly of PCR-generated or synthesized DNA parts into the target vector. It includes two reporter genes with either two constitutive (high- or low-level) or two inducible (lactose- or arabinose-) promoters, as well as a single-plasmid implementation of an AND logic gate. The set can readily be employed in undergraduate teaching settings, during outreach events and for training of iGEM teams. All plasmids have been deposited in Addgene.

Received: 16/03/2023
Accepted: 04/08/2023
Published Online: 06/09/2023

Keyword(s): education , Gibson assembly , iGEM , plasmids and synthetic biology

Funding

This study was supported by the:

Wellcome Trust (Award WT103054MA)
- Principle Award Recipient: DeanMadden
Wellcome Trust (Award WT103054MA)
- Principle Award Recipient: JarosławBryk
FP7 People: Marie-Curie Actions (Award 300038)
- Principle Award Recipient: JarosławBryk

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Volume 5, Issue 9

Pedagogy

Open Access

Unigems: plasmids and parts to facilitate teaching on assembly, gene expression control and logic in E. coli

This article is part of the Pedagogy collection.

Abstract

Funding

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