RNAlphABA

NCiC

Schedule

20th, August.
19:00-21:00 Ice-break activity, team discussion

21th, August.
09:00 Arrival at GenScript
09:00-11:00 Tour to GenScript and laboratories.
11:00 Report begins
11:00-11:15 Peking University
11:15-11:30 Tsinghua University
11:30-12:40 Lunch
12:40-13:10 China Pharmaceutical University
13:10-13:30 Sichuan University
13:30-13:50 Sichuan University-West China
13:50-14:20 Nanjing Medical University
14:20-14:40 Nanjing University of Technology
15:00 Take a group photo to mark the occasion

On September 6, 2020, four members of SCU-China visited the Chengdu headquarters of Angel yeast Co., Ltd., which located in building 3, block K, Qingyang Industrial Park, 188 Tengfei Avenue, Huangtianba, Qingyang District, Chengdu. Mr. Xingchi Liao, executive director of Chengdu headquarters, warmly received us. After introducing the development history and business scope of Angel yeast, he introduced us to Mr. Zhenhua Zhou, a technical staff, the sales engineer of Baking and Chinese Pasta Business Department and Chengdu Sales Department.

Fig 1-2. Ice-break activity and team discussion

Questions and suggestions from the teachers

1. Whether a way can be found to increase FPP（upstream product of ABA）production and whether some other flow of FPP can be inhibited by other means, which is able to result in higher production for engineered yeast.
2. The use of csy4 is redundant when there is already a 2A sequence.
3. The use of multiple 2A sequences may result in reduced expression of the next cistron, so it is generally the best to use only one 2A sequence.
4. The use of engineered yeast in farmers may not meet the requirements for gene safety.

Fig 3-4. Presentation and Q&A

Communication among teams

1. On August 20th, during the ice-break activity, Peking University and Nanjing Medical University discussed the institutional problems of the iGEM team with us. We learned that this year, Peking University mainly completed their work under the guidance of a mentor while Nanjing Medical University has just built their team this year. Compared to others, our team has a relatively long history, with more excellent institutions. And a scientific and systematic talent training program for synthetic biology.

2. Nanjing Medical University takes a keen interest in our modeling. They wanted to model the linker between two proteins, so they asked us how we achieved the structural modeling for several proteins. Considering that the order of linker and two proteins may have a great impact on the whole protein, which is different from the modeling of individual proteins, we recommended our team's method of protein structure modeling last year to them. see more

3. SCU-WestChina affirmed our modeling of the predicted sequence of the four enzymes, BcABA1-4. And the software product was not closely integrated with the topic and the accuracy was difficult to control in their opinion.

Fig 5. Group photo of the 1st NCiC

Video of Pre: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV15v41117vM

7th CCiC

SCU-China participated in the 7th CCiC and submitted our project presentation video and poster. We made some suggestions to XMU and XJTU, while BIT and ZJU and the judges listened to our presentation and shared their experiences, which helped us a lot in advancing our project, such as:
1. Whether the ABA remaining in the dough affects the human body.
2. Whether the production of ABA can be regulated.
3. ABA modeling is incomplete, it is recommended to solve differential equations directly with Matlab.
4. The Angle Yeast HP is a great idea and should be valued.

Fig 6. CCiC

The Science of Sourdough

SCU-China attended the online meeting about “the Science of Sourdough”. We learned about the wild yeasts and bacteria that thrive in starters and how variations in the mix affect taste and other attributes of bread. We also communicate with them about the application of engineered yeast in dough fermentation. The Speakers complemented our ideas and suggest that further research is valuable.

Fig 7-8. The Science of Sourdough

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