Realizing V. natriegens as a widely used host organism for synthetic biology requires well funded knowledge about it! Realizing this, we prioritised fundamental research early on. We showed the unparalleled speed of V. natriegens replication, defined a range of optimal growth conditions, including pH and salt tolerance, and demonstrated the ease of its genetic accessibility.
We managed to enable transformation protocols for with high electroporation efficiency and heat-shock transformation to drive synthetic biology research.
In combination with our Marburg Toolbox, we accomplished cloning of simple plasmids in under 12 hours, and assembly and preparation of level 2 golden gate constructs in under three days!
Additionally, our team successfully implemented Gibson and Aqua cloning and achieved high reliability at high performances.
We sequenced both chromosomes with Illumina sequencing , mapped them to existing genome maps and ran automated annotation tools to identify genetic features.
Working concentrations for most common antibiotics were elucidated and used throughout the project.
Applying several electron microscopic methods, we could, apart from generating nice pictures, highlight shape, form and volume of V. natriegens. Fortunately, we could observe several cell divisions in mid process.