New strategies for designing inexpensive but selective bioadsorbants for environmental pollutants: Selection of specific ligands and their cell surface expression. 1998 annual progress report

'The broad, long term objective of the research plan is to develop exquisitely selective polypeptide metal chelators for the remediation of aqueous systems. A variety of polypeptide chelators will be developed and optimized ranging from antibodies to small peptides. Then, through unique molecular engineering approaches developed in the laboratories, the polypeptide chelators will be anchored directly on the surface of the cells that produce them. Thus, instead of using isolated biomolecules the authors will employ inexpensive genetically engineered whole cell adsorbents. Following a simple, easily scaleable treatment, the engineered cells can be used to manufacture an inexpensive, particulate adsorbent for metal removal. The authors are currently in year two of a three year program. Work has been focused on preparing the molecular biology constructs needed to carry out the optimization of a metal complex binding antibody, and on the isolation of a metal binding peptide.