Bacterial flagellar motor as a multimodal biosensing chip

Find-A-PhD广告的项目描述(最多400字)。这将是向潜在学生宣传的文本：细菌已经在我们星球的每一个角落采用了生命，其中包括开发了一系列非凡的传感能力。合成生物学的一个引人注目的领域认识到了细菌的传感潜力，并依靠我们日益增长的合成所需遗传信息并将其插入活细胞的能力，旨在开发目前的生物传感模式，并提供一系列新的生物传感模式。传感器行业看到了这种基于全细胞的生物传感器的巨大前景，对各种不同的目标感兴趣：从毒素、病原体和爆炸物到与人类健康相关的标记。虽然已经报道了一系列不同的细菌全细胞生物传感器，但我们还没有开发出合适的生物电接口，这是限制生物传感器在一系列不同外部环境中可靠和可行应用的关键障碍。具体地说，现有细菌全细胞生物传感器最常见的输出信号是光。然而，目前的传感器行业严重依赖硅基微电子，并对具有电输出的生物传感器感兴趣，这将使其能够有效地整合到现有的制造能力中。为了克服这一关键限制，在本项目中，我们希望开发一种可用于环境和生理传感的新型生物混合电子器件架构。生物混合体系结构将允许在单细胞水平上进行传感，但同时也可以在数千个细胞上进行传感。基于细菌鞭毛马达旋转的单细胞生物传感器(生物芯片)的设计是基于细菌鞭毛马达的旋转。马达是一种独特的旋转分子机器，几十年来一直吸引着科学家。马达的进化功能是通过旋转附着在其上的鞭毛来推动细菌。就像电动马达一样，BFM有一个转子和一个定子，由几个蛋白质环组成，这些蛋白质环从细胞质突出穿过整个细胞膜。通常，马达的旋转方向是由趋化网络控制的，但在这个项目中，我们将获得对旋转方向的控制，并以一种允许我们使用合成生物学工具来使用BFM旋转方向变化的频率的方式来修改细胞。这将使我们能够设计能够感知环境中分子的细胞，并对环境中的浓度做出反应，改变发动机旋转方向的频率。接下来，我们将使用集成芯片和细菌细胞大小的小电极来检测电机的旋转。总而言之，我们将设计一种电子生物芯片，使我们能够将全细胞生物传感的极限推向目前可以实现的范围。

Project Description for Find-A-PhD Advert (max 400 words). This will be the text that is advertised to prospective students:Bacteria have adopted for life in every corner of our planet by, among other, developing a remarkable portfolio of sensing capabilities. A compelling area of Synthetic Biology recognized the sensing potential of bacteria and, relying on our increasing capacity to synthesize and insert desired genetic information into the living cells, aims to exploit the current and provide a new range of biological sensing modalities.The sensor industry sees great promise in such whole-cell based biosensors, with interest in a diverse and large set of different targets: from toxins, pathogens and explosives to human-health related markers. While a range of different bacterial whole-cell based biosensors have been reported, we have yet to develop a suitable bioelectrical interface, which is a key barrier that limits the reliable and feasible application of biosensors in a range of different external environments. Specifically, the most common output signal of existing bacterial whole-cell biosensors is light. Yet, the current sensor industry relies heavily on silicon-based microelectronics and is interest in biosensors with electrogenic outputs that would enable efficient incorporation into the existing manufacturing capabilities. To overcome this key limitation, in this project we wish to develop a novel biohybrid electronic device architecture that can be used for environmental and physiological sensing. The biohybrid architecture will allow sensing on the single-cell level, yet on thousands of cells at the same time. The design of the single-cell based biosensor with electrical output (a biochip) is based on the rotation of the bacterial flagellar motor (BFM). The motor is a unique rotary molecular machine that has captivated scientists for several decades. The evolutionary function of the motor is to enable propulsion of the bacterium by rotating the flagellum attached to it. Like an electric motor, the BFM has a rotor and a stator, made of several protein rings, that protrude from the cytoplasm through the entire cell envelope. Ordinarily, the rotational direction of the motor is controlled by the chemotactic network, but in this project, we will gain control of the rotational direction and modify the cells in a way that will allow us to use the frequency of the BFM's rotational direction changes with synthetic biology tools. This will allow us to design cells that sense molecule in the environment and in response to the concentration in the environment, change the frequency of the rotational direction changes of the motor. Next, we will detect the motor rotation electrically, using an integrated chip and small electrodes that are the size of the bacterial cells.In conclusion, we will design an electrical biochip that will enable us to push the limits of whole cell biosensing beyond currently achievable.