Proposal to present #12e: A proteomic approach to identify physiological changes in E. coli metabolically engineered for enhanced TCE degradation and toxicity reduction

Trichloroethylene (TCE) and other chlorinated ethylenes are environmental pollutants frequently found in groundwater. In metabolic engineering approach to improve aerobic biodegradation, toluene o-monooxygenase-Green, glutathione S-transferase, and γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase were co-expressed in Escherichia coli TG1 cells, resulting in three-fold higher cis-dichloroethylene degradation rates and protection from the effects of DCE epoxide. The TCE exposure and transformation was responsible for changes in the protein profiles. The proteomic approach was valuable in yielding insights into the cellular pathways that could be affected by metabolic engineering. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AIChE Annual Meeting (Austin, TX 11/7-12/2004).