Elias Lab University of Minnesota

Educational Resources

Interactive tools for learning protein engineering, microbial signaling and crystallography. They run in your browser, with nothing to install.

Virtual Labs

  • Diffraction Lab's 3D view of X-rays leaving a crystal through the Ewald sphere, beside the four-fold pattern of spots they make on the detector.

    Diffraction Lab Version 0.7.0 beta

    Put a crystal in an X-ray beam and follow each reflection from the Ewald sphere to the detector. Why does a Laue pattern appear at once, while a rotating crystal lights up spot by spot?

    • X-ray crystallography
    • Reciprocal lattice
    • Ewald sphere
    • Four ways to collect data
  • Quorum Lab's arena, where three colonies of bacteria glow amber where their shared signal is strongest, beside the sliders that set the cells and their chamber.

    Quorum Lab Version 0.8.0 beta

    Place bacteria in a chamber and watch their signal build, spread and switch them on. What changes when the cells crowd together, the chamber shrinks, or the signal sticks to membranes?

    • Quorum sensing
    • Signal diffusion
    • Short and long AHL signals
    • Dense communities
  • Lactonase Lab's drawing of the active site of SsoPox, where a hydroxide held by an iron and a cobalt ion attacks the lactone ring of a signal molecule, beside the text of that step.

    Lactonase Lab Version 0.1.0 beta

    Press Play and watch the lactonase SsoPox open the ring of a bacterial signal, one step at a time. Where does the water attack, and how fast does the signal disappear?

    • Enzymology
    • Quorum quenching
    • Reaction mechanism
    • Michaelis–Menten kinetics

Simulations

Simplified

  • Quorum sensing

    At what density does a quorum appear? Why does lactonase stop it without killing a single cell?

  • Phosphate or arsenate

    What changes when the binding protein stops telling phosphate from arsenate?

  • Engineer an enzyme

    Why does each round's gain get smaller? Would you screen differently the second time?

Mini-Games

  • Colony Version 0.6

    Grow a bacterial colony until it reaches quorum, then survive flowing water and antibiotics. Why do bacteria hide in crevices?

  • Quench Version 0.10

    Play an enzyme that silences bacteria by cutting their signals. Why does it need metal ions, and what makes a signal fit?

Lab Tunes

Signal Jammer (Quorum Sensing Funk) Mikael Elias

4 min

Read the lyrics of the song: Signal Jammer (Quorum Sensing Funk)

In the world so small, they're talking loud,
Bacteria are gathering in the crowd,
They send out signals, in the air,
Lactones, they're everywhere!
When the numbers rise, they start the game,
A little chat and it's never the same,
In their world, it's all about the crew,
They form a force, and they all know what to do!

They call it quorum sensing, it's the way they glow,
Communication's key to make their power flow,
But if we can jam it, take their signal down,
We'll stop the spread and wear the crown!

Lactones in the air, can you hear them call?
Bacteria talking, but we break that wall,
Lactonases hit, signals drop like stones,
We're stopping them cold, breaking their zones!
Quorum sensing's a game, but we're changing the rules,
We're shutting them down, microbial fools!

Lactones bind, they talk real clear,
"Let's form a biofilm, spread the fear!"
But we've got something to break their chain,
Lactonases, we got the gain!
We destroy their signals, tear them apart,
Bacteria can't play their sneaky part,
Interfering with the talk they send,
They can't grow stronger, this is the end!

They call it quorum sensing, a bacterial show,
We got the power to steal their flow,
So when they're plotting, we'll shut it down,
We'll stop the biofilm, take back the crown!

Yo, it's a battle for dominance, who's on top?
Bacteria fighting, never gonna stop,
Some resist, adapt, they find a way,
Antibiotics can't touch them, they're here to stay!
But with quorum sensing, they make their move,
Biofilms, toxins, they got something to prove,
But when we step in with lactonase power,
We cut the signal, turn off their tower!
They're not invincible, we bring the fight,
We're disrupting their flow, taking back the night!

Lactones in the air, can you hear them call?
Bacteria talking, but we break that wall,
Lactonases hit, signals drop like stones,
We're stopping them cold, breaking their zones!
Quorum sensing's a game, but we're changing the rules,
We're shutting them down, microbial fools!

So let's flip the switch, make the signal drop,
No more plans for the bacterial crop,
By blocking their chatter, we've won the fight,
Jamming communication all through the night!

Lactones in the air, can you hear them call?
Bacteria talking, but we break that wall,
Lactonases hit, signals drop like stones,
We're stopping them cold, breaking their zones!
Quorum sensing's a game, but we're changing the rules,
We're shutting them down, microbial fools!

We'll learn their language, crack the code,
Tune into their signals, the bacteria's mode,
With lactonases and a twist of fate,
We'll program their moves, reshape their state!
Quorum sensing's power, we've made it fall,
Bacteria beware, we're stopping you all!
We'll hack the code, program the flow,
Signal jammers rise—this funk's for you!