The ultimate goal of this research project is to improve the growth and structural characteristics of an industrial strain of fungus used by Ecovative Design LLC to produce commercial biomaterials for packaging. These biomaterials are produced from renewable resources and can be easily broken down after they fulfill their purpose, unlike the commonly used materials today (such as Styrofoam). In an effort to quantify the light-reactivity of the fungus, a blue chromoprotein was introduced and utilized as a visual reporter gene. Transcriptional controlling sequences were identified from orthologs to specific light-regulated genes and were combined with a codon-optimized version of the coral Amil-CP Blue chromoprotein gene. This resulted in recombinant DNA constructs suitable for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of the fungus. PCR and restriction enzyme digestion was used to verify the correct organization of the fragments making up each recombinant DNA molecule. The utility of these constructs is currently being examined, and results of these experiments will be reported. This research was supported by a grant to Ecovative Design from DARPA (BAA-16-50).
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