Ganglioside Insertion in E. coli ??

[ii]

Hola,

I haven't followed this group, and I'm not sure if I should be posting
this on other bionet. or sci. newsgroups, but I guess I'll start here. 
I'm a student at Swarthmore College, working on a fictional grant proposal
concerning cholera toxin detection for a microbiology seminar.  My "plan"
is to insert Gm1 ganglioside membrane protein into E. coli, and to add in
a colorimetric or other indicator gene that will be activated by the
outflow of H2O that occurs when the toxin binds to the receptor ; thereby
creating an quick indication system for cholera toxin presence.  I've done
quite a bit of research on the effectiveness of toxin binding to Gm1, and
the neccessity for a fast detection system of cholera toxin in water
supplies, but will this work ?  Can eukaryotic membrane proteins be
inserted into E. coli ?  Will it induce the desired ionic flow ?  Any help
with this would be greatly appreciated, either by posting or e-mail.

Thanks,

Matt Lawlor '95
mlawlor1 at cc.swarthmore.edu

-- 
wtuck1 at cc.swarthmore.edu