The work continues and expands a previous effort carried out in collaboration with JGI. In the new efforts, we are taking both old and new populations through a total of at least 60 cycles of irradiation and outgrowth to achieve a level of radiation resistance that is the same or greater than that observed in Deinococcus radiodurans. By defining mutations underlying such a phenotype, we will gain the capacity to transfer the phenotype to other bacterial species by simple engineering, for applications in the realms of energy, defense, medicine, and industry.
Proposer: Michael Cox, University of Wisconsin, Madison