diff --git a/wiki/pages/description.html b/wiki/pages/description.html index cc564d937bbf2464c5adfa6b0d975ad4b52e2011..4b3e51b2bd7008127327d5c247ac29b0652a9e79 100644 --- a/wiki/pages/description.html +++ b/wiki/pages/description.html @@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ <img src="https://static.igem.wiki/teams/4594/wiki/imp-static/desc-image9.png" alt=""> </div> Insert bigelowii pic with magnified view of UCYN-A --> <p>The discovery of the nitroplast captured our interest - we had considered a project on nitrogen fixation before but failed to see a way in which we could innovate or propose new solutions to the problems previous teams faced. All diazotrophs (bacteria and archaea that fix atmospheric N<sub>2</sub>) use the <strong>enzyme nitrogenase</strong> to fix nitrogen, but the expression of this enzyme presents great difficulties: it is <strong>irreversibly damaged by reacting with oxygen</strong>, while at the same time catalyzing an energetically demanding reaction. Due to this, diazotrophs have evolved very complex mechanisms to couple nitrogen fixation with respiration and/or photosynthesis, which so far has been beyond reach in terms of reproduction by synthetic biologists. The <strong>nitroplast solves this problem, acting as a fully contained compartment within a eukaryote where nitrogen fixation takes place</strong>, utilizing several years of evolutionary optimization.</p> - <div class="img-pagestyle" style="width:90%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;"> - <img src="https://static.igem.wiki/teams/5054/nitrogenase.gif" alt=""> + <div class="img-pagestyle" style="width:150%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;"> + <img src="https://static.igem.wiki/teams/5054/nitrogenase1.gif" alt=""> </div> <p><strong>Symbiotic relationships</strong> between diazotrophs and plants already exist in nature, specifically in crops - legumes have a relationship with rhizobia (bacteria living around the plant root), as do some grass species with other nitrogen-fixers. However, most <strong>other crops do not have anything of the sort</strong>. Besides transgenic nitrogenase expression, the other main avenue currently being explored in nitrogen fixation is the <strong>engineering of external symbiosis</strong> between diazotrophs and other plants. However, this poses a challenge in replicating fragile extracellular signaling pathways and physical conditions that are dependent on the plant species' roots, as well as potential containment issues.</p> <div class="img-pagestyle" style="width:75%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;">