Ice Minus Bacteria

-is a mutant strain of the common wild-type bacteria Pseudomonas syringae. -Pseudomonas syringae is known as ice-plus bacterium.

Microbes Involved

-Pseudomonas syringae

- Escherichia coli

Process Involved

1. Digest P. syringaes DNA coding for frost-formation with restriction enzymes. 2. Transform the bacterium E. coli by inserting the DNA of the P. syringae that codes for frost-formation. 3. Recombinant E. coli with the ice gene will possess the ice-nucleating phenotype, these will be ice-plus. 4. Identify the ice gene from the E. coli and amplify the ice-gene using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).

Process Involved

5. Create mutant clones of the ice-gene through the introduction of mutagenic agents such as UV radiation to inactivate the ice gene creating ice-minus bacteria.

6. Insert the ice-minus gene to a normal ice plus P. syringae bacterium.

7. Allow recombination to take place.

Importance
- Lowering the normal freezing point of plants by -40C thus preventing the frost-formation on crops.

Place that Uses this

- New York, USA

Environmental Issue
- May prevent cloud formation.